Engineering infrared light sensitivity in the blind human retina could restore visual function in patients with regional retinal degeneration. However, current approaches are complex and contain non-human biological components. Using rational protein design, we engineered human transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (hTRPV1) channels (Δ786-840) with temperature sensitivity that shifted from 45 to 41°C, which enabled near-infrared (NIR) light-induced heat activation of mammalian cells at close to physiological temperatures. When expressed in ganglion cells of human retinal explants, Δ786-840 TRPV1 generated robust spiking responses to brief NIR light-induced temperature transients. In addition, increasing intensity of radiation evoked graded responses correlating with increasing firing frequencies. Unlike previous approaches, which used non-human TRPV1 channels, risking immune reactions, and a multicomponent system that poses barriers to clinical implementation, this single-component human-derived approach eliminates immunogenicity concerns, addressing a major challenge to clinical translation, and allows gene delivery using adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors.