Chris James can start to see again for the first time in 22 years thanks to a pioneering new BIONIC EYE. The Wiltshire man can now recognise shapes after becoming the first British patient to be fitted with the digital chip, similar to microchips found in mobile phones. Doctors believe in time Chris James will be able to recognise faces, once his brain learns to see again. Surgeons in Oxford, led by Professor Robert MacLaren, fitted the chip at the back of Chris' eye in a complex eight-hour operation last month. Chris, from Wiltshire, said: "I've always had that thought that one day I would be able to see again.