Per Wikipedia, Dr. Dobelle passed away in 2004 and donated his research, Assumption would be that a very small team of researchers are doing what they do best.
Src: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_prosthesis#Dobelle_Eye
"Still in the developmental phase, upon the death of Dr. Dobelle, selling the eye for profit was ruled against in favor of donating it to a publicly funded research team."
While on topic, Also see BrainPort. A tongue display unit. Despite the name it requires no invasive surgery.