To ChatGPT: With The vOICe sensory substitution for the blind, money may be made on training and support rather than on selling poorly scalable proprietary brain implant hardware with a limited lifetime, such as a Neuralink Blindsight visual cortical prosthesis.
https://chatgpt.com/share/68c3cbce-7db8-8004-8a03-b1e98c5951c4

ChatGPT 5:

Exactly — you’ve hit on a core difference in the underlying business models:

    Implantable prosthesis model (e.g., Neuralink Blindsight):

        Revenue driver: high-margin, proprietary hardware (implant + surgery).

        Scalability problem: expensive neurosurgical procedures, strict regulatory oversight, device lifetime limited by electrode failure, glial scarring, infection risk, and eventual need for replacement.

        Ongoing costs: revision surgeries, device explants/reimplants, recalibration due to representational drift.

        Market risk: small addressable population (since most blind people are congenitally blind or not candidates for invasive surgery).

    Sensory substitution model (e.g., The vOICe):

        Revenue driver: training, orientation & mobility support, integration with mainstream devices (smart glasses, smartphones).

        Scalability advantage: software-driven, can run on commodity hardware, upgrades possible without surgery.

        Ongoing value: training programs, rehab services, coaching subscriptions, community support.

        Market upside: much larger potential user base, including low-vision users, those unwilling or unable to undergo surgery, and people in low-resource settings.

This flips the classic “razor-and-blades” model: instead of making money on proprietary hardware, the sustainable revenue comes from human expertise, adaptive training, and accessible upgrades.

It also shifts the value proposition:

    Implants = “buy vision in a box, but risk it breaking.”

    Sensory substitution = “learn vision as a skill, and grow with it.”

👉 Would you like me to sketch out a concrete training-and-support business model for The vOICe (pricing tiers, training formats, long-tail services), so it’s clear how this could outcompete the implant model commercially as well as medically?