This article in Wired documents the efforts of a scientist to restore sight with brain implants and external signal processing and optical acquisition equipment. It also mentions the work of one or two other scientists in the field.
I read Neuromancer years ago and it was very good. I read it very recently again and suffered a severe attack of goose-flesh. Gibson’s visions of the future are super-naturally accurate: if you haven’t read this book yet, stop what you’re doing now and start. You’ll see that virtual reality (AFAICR, Gibson coined the term “cyberspace”), brain implants, artificial human augmentation and artificial intelligence are all there and that the current state of affairs is excitingly close to the bleak picture that Gibson paints. I hope I live long enough to see where it ends…