>> I know audio nerve stimulation is a real thing that they've actually
>> tried to do. Of course, it's hard to tell how well it actually works...
>
> "Tried" to do?
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant

As I say, it's difficult to decide how well it actually works. "Up to 22 
electrodes" hardly compares to the several *million* nerve endings that 
were there to start with. Short of deliberately making yourself deaf and 
then installing one of these, it's difficult to figure out what this 
sounds like to a person who knows what real sound is like.

Doing this with the eye would be a harder problem. (Although *actually* 
the human eye doesn't have nearly the resolving power you think it does; 
the crystal-clear high-resolution 3-dimensional image you perceive is 
actually due to sophisticated signal processing rather than precision 
optics.)

Having said all that, there was an experiment where subjects slowly 
learned to "see" using their tongue. Experimenters placed electrodes 
onto the tongue [which is naturally bathed in suitable electrolytes], 
and projected a very low-resolution image onto them. Eventually subjects 
learned to walk around without bumping into objects, and to have some 
idea where the hell they're going. Weird, but true... I think they call 
it "neuroplasticity".

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