针对致盲型视网膜疾病，视网膜假体通过电刺激诱发的离散光幻视构成“人工视觉”，实现植入者的视觉功能修复。而受限于阵列尺寸和可植入电极数目，较之正常视觉，人工视觉是一种有限视野内的极低分辨率视觉感受。因而植入者所能感知到的视觉信息非常有限，在日常生活中开展基本的视觉任务仍然存在一定的困难。针对上述问题，本申请课题拟开展基于信息科学及认知科学的视网膜假体人工视觉信息处理研究。面向基本的物体识别，拟基于仿生视觉注意机制的显著性计算模型，研究有效的图像处理方法，实时准确检测场景中的感兴趣物体；探索物体和背景信息的光幻视优化配置策略，辅助植入者在有限的人工视觉下的知觉组织过程；进而开展仿真人工视觉下的行动能力实验，评估方法对日常环境下的物体识别和场景判断的影响。以上研究工作的开展，能够为视网膜假体中人工视觉信息处理和优化编码提供新的思路和理论依据，并为植入者术后视觉功能恢复评估研究奠定实验基础。

Retinal prosthesis is proposed as a way of restoring vision for blinding retinal diseases by electrically stimulating the remaining retina, which elicits the “artificial vision” to the implant recipient in the form of discrete phosphenes. However, the maximum number of implantable electrodes and the size of the implant are limited, thus resulting in a low-resolution visual perception restricted in a small visual filed. Visual information provided is far less than that by normal human vision. Clinical tests have reported that the recipients still have difficulties with basic visual tasks in daily lives. Focusing on this issue, this research will investigate applicable information processing in artificial prosthetic vision, using information science and cognitive science. Real-time and robust detection algorithms for objects in real life scene is to be studied, based on certain computational models of visual saliency. In view of limited phosphenes, some image strategies for useful information optimization will be put forward in order to assist the perceptual organization under artificial vision. On these basis, a simulated mobility experiment is to be designed and conducted for verifying the effect of the strategies on the ability of object recognition and scene identification. A portable simulated artificial vision system implementing the proposed strategies will be worn by a group of normal vision subjects and tested in real time. These studies on visual information processing in artificial vision will help to optimize the design of image processing and information coding in retinal prosthesis, which provides solid experimental and theoretical basis to visual function rehabilitation for the blind.