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Canada Input Devices Robotics Hardware Technology Science

Bionic-Eyed Man Wants To Stream Eye Video Online 115

Posted by timothy from the except-for-the-blackout-moments dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to this IEEE article, Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence, who calls himself Eyeborg because he replaced his false right eye with a bionic one, is showing off his latest prototype. The new bionic eye contains a battery-powered, wireless video camera that can transmit a low-res feed to a nearby receiver. Now Spence plans to share his 'vision' online, literally. According to the IEEE article, 'soon people will be able to log on to his video feed and view the world through his right eye.'"
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Bionic-Eyed Man Wants To Stream Eye Video Online More

Bionic-Eyed Man Wants To Stream Eye Video Online

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  • Girls (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Bongo ( 13261 )

    And this guy expects to ever get a date?

  • Once the coolness factor wears out after the first week, this will regress into yet another crappy webcam.

    • Typical /. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by dominious ( 1077089 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @07:33AM (#32548740)
      I've read the comments on the linked article "Film maker working on a bionic eye" and the comments read "fascinating future" "imagination" "great stuff" etc.

      Now the comments here read "Bad idea" "Privacy issues" "Police state" etc.

      So what the heck do you want?
      • "the comments read "fascinating future" "imagination" "great stuff" etc. "

        I guess I missed those comments, I saw spooky [slashdot.org], porn [slashdot.org] and banned from theaters [slashdot.org].

        Seems more like a publicity stunt from a no name film maker... sorry there's no link, I couldn't find him on IMDB, unless he's this Robert Spence [imdb.com] who's earned such illustrious titles as "additional assistant production office coordinator" in recent years (is that the assistant to the assistant to the coordinator?)

        We all have cellphones, we've all see

        • Now if he could actually see with this device that'd be different, that's a bionic eye, but all he did was replace his false eye with a small streaming webcam. That's not a bionic eye anymore than a false arm with a webcam is a bionic arm.

          First of all, I think it's awesome. Of the thousands upon thousands of people who have eye prosthetics, he is the first who both got the idea and actually got it made.

          Second, he could see with this. Read up on Sensory Substitution [wikipedia.org], perhaps most relevant: the Tongue Display Unit [wicab.com]. Currently at 25x25 resolution and a size of 3x3cm, the TDU is an electrode array placed on the tongue used to display information from other modalities through the tactile modality.

          Wicab is currently working on higher resolution pro

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

        So what the heck do you want?

        The answer to life, the universe and everything?

    • Really, if this were the same thing but with a webcam taped to a ballcap, it would accomplish almost exactly the same thing (but with better image quality) but nobody would care.
  • The police will rip your eyes out [slashdot.org] and than charge you with a crime.

    • Go go police state!

    • I was having that exact same thought: what will the cops do when this sort of thing becomes "standard issue"?

      Yes, for right now it's more a toy than anything (although as a filmmaker, I could see some use for this in documentaries.)

      But once they figure out how to pass that video back to the user (making it a true replacement eye), the cops are in a sticky situation - yes, it's streaming live. But are they willing to blind a man to prevent it?

  • Being John Malkovich (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Malkovich!!

  • Out of curiosity ... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by slackarse ( 875650 ) *

    If you were recording the bionic eye vision while drinking, would the recording get progressively blurred and distorted the more you drank?
    Even if not recording, would what you see be blurred (pixellated even) while drinking, or would you see perfectly?

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by amanicdroid ( 1822516 )
      Also, what happens if he achieves near-light speed? Will we see into the future?

    • Re:Out of curiosity ... (Score:5, Informative)

      by snuf23 ( 182335 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @06:20AM (#32548440)

      It's a wireless camera installed in a false eye. He doesn't see out of that eye with it. It isn't connected to his retina or optic nerve or any other sensory mechanism. If he was drunk it would record exactly what it would record if he was sober. He can't see the feed in real time unless he watches his own video stream (in which case it would be a video stream of him staring at a monitor).

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by maxwell demon ( 590494 )

        He can't see the feed in real time unless he watches his own video stream (in which case it would be a video stream of him staring at a monitor).

        It would be a video stream of a monitor. He would not be seen, except maybe as mirror image on the monitor. Otherwise the only reason we would know that he's watching his own video stream would be that the monitor would itself show that monitor showing that monitor showing that monitor showing that monitor ...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

          You owe me two Tylenols.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by LoRdTAW ( 99712 )

          Otherwise the only reason we would know that he's watching his own video stream would be that the monitor would itself show that monitor showing that monitor showing that monitor showing that monitor ...

          That would be possible with Mr. Rental.

      • video feedback, kind of fun but he won't see himself.

      • That'd be really disorienting. Every time he looks at his own stream, he and everyone else watching it would be treated to an infinite recursion.

      • Bionic? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by nurb432 ( 527695 )

        If he cant see out of it, how is it considered bionic? Shoving a camera in your eye socket is no different then wearing one around your neck really.

      • If he was drunk it would record exactly what it would record if he was sober.

        Well, except for an increase in swaying.

    • If you were recording the bionic eye vision while drinking . . .

      Maybe Lindsay Lohan's judge will order her to wear one of these, if the SCRAM bracelet doesn't work out.

      The humor aside, there's already ankle bracelets to monitor house arrest, the SCRAM for alcohol . . . what's up next . . . ?

      This guy can turn off his eye whenever he chooses, but could a court order force him to turn it on . . ?

      I think all that damn vuvuzela noise is doing something to my brain . . .

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Renraku ( 518261 )

      The vision of the bionic eye will not be affected to you and me, since the signal gets recorded before the signal gets processed by the brain. We don't have the technology to turn brain signals into recordable senses yet anyway. This means that you might see some twitching of the eye, but it won't be blurry when recorded. He, however, will likely see blurred vision if he himself can see through the eye, because the brain's interpretation of signals changes when liquored up.

  • Being John Malkovich (Score:5, Funny)

    by shikaisi ( 1816846 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @05:40AM (#32548282)
    Do you think we can persuade John Malkovich to have one of these bionic eyes fitted and turn fiction into reality?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cappp ( 1822388 )
      Doesn't this raise interesting privacy questions? I mean we have a man who is recording everything he sees and doing with that whatever he likes - its like CCTV for the private citizen.

      Our technology has shrunk the world – what was once local and limited now has the potential to be broadcast globally in a matter of seconds. Those images and videos can in turn be used for a vast number of purposes – from entertainment to advertisement, from ridicule to prosecution. Doesn’t the advent of

  • Oh hey, it's cyberpunk (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Sowelu ( 713889 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @05:46AM (#32548308)
    Get a few more guys to do this, and wear goggles (or embed something into the electronic image your eye shows you) that displays what your buddies are seeing. Very distracting for the first month or so, but it's a must-have for every up-and-coming Shadowrunning team!

  • Just wait until he turns on the TV... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gzipped_tar ( 1151931 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @06:06AM (#32548380) Journal

    As soon as he looks at some copyrighted material, the *AA will find him and gouge out his blood-dripping, cyborg eye.

    "Pirates need to die, really."

  • Are we sure this guy doesn't have an army of forced perspective dinosaur puppets and his disposal? Sounds like he stole the eye from that big chin dude in Future War.

    Bonus points for getting the reference.

  • Why only his right eye? (Score:5, Funny)

    by An Onerous Coward ( 222037 ) on Saturday June 12, 2010 @06:40AM (#32548514) Homepage

    Why not the left? What are you trying to hide, sir?

  • Couldn't he sacrifice himself just a little bit more so that we could get 3D!?

  • Sooner or later, the poor guy's going to watch a movie. Movie get's streamed to the world. MPAA gets involved....

  • Not just HIS privacy, but will he wear a sign warning people around him that he is invading other peoples' privacy too? That eye would amount to a hidden camera. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't appreciate being secretly broadcast by someone.

    • Then maybe you shouldn't go in public. By definition, there is no expectation of privacy in a public place, or a place open to the public. Some states have asinine laws about recording that FORCE privacy in public (which is why we're seeing police prosecute citizens for recording them in the performance of their duties), but most don't.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by maxume ( 22995 )

        That's such a lazy answer; there is nothing stopping us from responding to brand new technologies by adjusting social mores and laws.

        Privacy might not be the the right word to talk about it, but that doesn't mean we can't have some rules about respecting others while in public (I don't think that police are a particularly interesting example, if you want to put on the uniform of authority, you damn well better be willing to let the public watch what you do with it).

      • 1) Just because you are in public does not automatically strip citizens of all expectations of privacy.
        2) What makes you think he would use his "eye" only in "public"?
        3) An extreme example- so you think it is OK if someone followed you around every step you take out of your residence and record what you do, who you associate with, where you go, and record all this information and make it all publicly, forever?
        4) Define what is "public". In my car with him? In a restaurant booth with him? In a public rest

        • 1) Just because you are in public does not automatically strip citizens of all expectations of privacy.

          Well, if he can see you with the bionic eye*, then he can see you with his natural one. Thus, he was already seeing you - it's just the method that's changed. (As well as "hard drive" substituting for "memory").

          2) What makes you think he would use his "eye" only in "public"?

          Again, see (1) - if he's in the room, it's reasonable to expect that he's seeing it. If you don't want him to see it, then kick him out of the room. (Contrast with hidden cameras, where you don't know that someone is watching.)

          3) An extreme example- so you think it is OK if someone followed you around every step you take out of your residence and record what you do, who you associate with, where you go, and record all this information and make it all publicly, forever?

          Apparently we do - that's what paparazzi do for a living, after all.

          4) Define what is "public". In my car with him? In a restaurant booth with him? In a public restroom? In an elevator alone or with just him? In my back yard? In my front yard? In my garage with the garage door open?

          I'd de

          • >Well, if he can see you with the bionic eye*, then he can see you with his natural one.

            And his natural eye doesn't record things verbatim, store it, and transmit it to other people. About people following you around with a camera- at least that is somewhat overt, and can be illegal as a form of harassment.

            >To throw a counter-argument to you, what happens if/when they figure out how to read memories?

            I shutter to think about it... but at least memories are not stored as exact replicas of the real wor

  • I saw this story on the local CBS [uspto.gov] news station.

    I also learned they are very [uspto.gov] interested [uspto.gov] in this.

    • I just discovered the links in my post are no longer valid due to "search session expired."

      My apologies.

  • What an amazing coincidence, I'm just watching some six million dollar man on TV.

  • ... in the few states that make filming them illegal
  • If Apple had a similar product, it might be called the iEye [wikia.com], requiring iSurgery to install.

    • If Apple had a similar product, it might be called the iEye [wikia.com], requiring iSurgery to install.

      And in just a few days after the iSurgery, one is over the iSore.

    • but to change the battery after a year, you have to go to apple's factory yourself and starving, tired foxconn workers would rip out your eye.

  • I would like to hack a mechanical leg to do hydrolic robot walking sounds effects in time with heel and toe strikes. I know all the sensors are on there, but the interface is password protected and uses a non-standard plugin. Though there does appear to be a bluetooth interface.

    Most things like this likely require a waver of sorts to get it made and installed. What if this battery explodes?

  • J'Kar? Is that you?

    The neatest thing about this eye is that it doesn't have to be in Spence's head. It could be left in some interesting places.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink [wikipedia.org]

    Women and men do not differ in their rates of spontaneous blinking. Generally, between each blink in intervals of 2-10 seconds; actual rates vary by individual averaging around 10 blinks per minute in a laboratory setting.

    Maybe we can use toothpicks to hold his eyelids open like in that Mel Gibson movie .

  • "But don't be reading my mind (eye webcam) between four and five. That's Willy's time!" --Willy (Simpsons)

    Without a way to selectively shut it off, (no, keeping your eye closed for long periods of time is not an option, it actually get tiring) it would be very inconvenient. Think about when he pays his bills, checks his bank statement, purchases his cocaine, etc... Sure this version is low res, but what about when the resolution gets better? Should he tattoo a warning on his forehead? "This encounter is

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by florin ( 2243 ) *

      Without a way to selectively shut it off, (no, keeping your eye closed for long periods of time is not an option, it actually get tiring) it would be very inconvenient.

      We got this covered. Why do you think most pirates wear eyepatches?

      I reckon it's usually because they're worried that the level of debauchery be unfit for their bionic eye.

  • A webcam, not a bionic eye (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt AT nerdflat DOT com> on Saturday June 12, 2010 @10:52AM (#32550040) Journal
    A bionic eye would, by my understanding of the notion of bionics, actually help this man see.

  • There are just too many things that can go wrong [infowavemedia.com].

  • I have a hot date with Jennifer Aniston tonight and can offer hi def video feeds from my eye for $9.95!

    [clutches eye patch]

  • What would happen if he looked at his own feed with his bionic eye?

    An infinite loop of images kind of like two mirrors next to each other.

    Would his brain explode?

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