Let's forget about consumer gadgets for a minute. Netbooks and RAmos Android MIDs and smartphones and gaming consoles are awesome, but every new release in the last year pales in comparison to what MIT has just cooked up. WIRED reports that a team of researchers at the institute have created a microchip that, when properly installed in the eye, will allow the blind to see.

Patients will recieve a microchip implant, and also be asked to wear a pair of glasses with a tiny camera attached to them. The camera sends images to the microchip in the eyeball which transmits them to the brain. This invention won't fully restore normal vision, but it will allow a blind person enough sight to navigate a room, recognize faces, and engage in other normal social tasks.

MIT is looking to begin human testing within the next 3 years, which means the technology is already quite developed. Their goal is to create an implant that can survive the harsh rigors of the human body for a full decade.

Alright everyone, put down your gadgets, pause your Youtube videos, and everybody give a big shout-out to Science. Thanks for moving the human race forward yet again!