Then, on the following day, the doctors were asked to perform a series of simulated operations via a virtual reality program used to train doctors in laparoscopic surgery, a form of minimally invasive surgery performed with tiny incisions and a fiber-optic camera.

CNN: Surgeons' 'bottle-to-scalpel' time affects errors

The camera sends images to the electrodes, essentially bypassing the damaged retina and tapping into the optic nerve that signals the brain to "see" images.

CNN: FDA approves first bionic eye