. >> reporter: in the meantime people like kathy blake will gladly take what science and technology can provide. >> when i don't have the glasses on i really don't see anything. >> reporter: she is one of about 40 people in the world with bionic eyesight. a camera in the glasses gathers the image. it gets fed into a small computer which sends a wireless signal to tiny electrodes implanted on the retina. they stimulate the remaining nerve cells sending the visual images to the brain. and that literally means fire works on the fourth of july for kathy blake. >> i'm almost speechless when i saw the fireworks i was really just mesmerized watching it. just not believing that i could actually see that. >> reporter: so what happens to our humanity as we equip our bodies with all these man- made parts? dr. mark of u.s.c.leads the team pushing this bionic vision technology. >> i think instead of us becoming more machines, what these machines do is actually make us more human. in fact one of our patients told us that. this device allows me to integrate more, to be able to play with my grandson an