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Artist Wants to Replace Lost Eyeball With Webcam

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-the-better-to-film-you-with dept.

A one-eyed San Francisco artist, Tanya Vlach, wants to replace her missing eye with a Web cam. There has even been talk of her shooting a reality TV show using the video eye. "There have been all sorts of cyborgs in science fiction for a long time, and I'm sort of a sci-fi geek, with the advancement of technology, I thought, 'Why not?'" said Vlach. I'm a bit perplexed that the obvious things you'd want in a cyborg eye: range finder, infrared/lowlight vision, and a hypno-ray are not discussed in the article.

16 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. That's easy. . . by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Funny

    just let the Borg come to 0, 0, 1 and she'll have her replacement eye in no time.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:That's easy. . . by Red+Flayer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except that by mapping space using coordinates, we can have knowledge of absolute, as well as relative, location.

      Sure, everything is moving... without coordinates in an absolute system, it'd pretty pretty damn difficult to calculate how things are moving.

      A little bit rambling, but I find it annoying when people use transient landmarks when giving me directions ( thankfully not an issue anymore, due to the internet). "Take the second right after the Mobil station" they say... what if the Mobil station becomes an Exxon station due to their merger? Why can't you just tell me, "Proceed 2.4 miles then turn right onto Elm Street"? See why absolute coordinates are better?

      What if I give you directions to get to Alpha Centauri using directions relative to Sol, but you're coming from Betelgeuse IV? Relative directions suck.

      If you want to map the universe in a coordinate system, you'd simply add the movement curve and time to the location of an object. So location would be (x, y, z at t=0, t, curve). We'd just need to define the absolute location of (0,0,0,0) -- of course, this is assuming there is no warping of space-time, which is a big assumption... but I think we could adapt for this by compressing/expanding the axes where necessary. Please explain how in the universe you'd use a non-coordinate system to map the universe.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  2. Obvious things by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

    Infrared and rangefinder is good, but I want the targeting crosshairs.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:Obvious things by corsec67 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Infrared and rangefinder is good

      I don't know if I would want an infrared seeing eye. The top layers of skin become almost transparent, so any veins near the skin become much more obvious, like in this picture of a model wearing a swimsuit. The vein along the side of her stomach and on her legs are very obvious.

      On the plus side, some dyes are transparent in IR, along with some synthetic cloths, so what would normally be a dyed shirt looks transparent

      (Maybe linking to a few pictures of girls in bikini's is karma-whoring, but they really do illustrate the point I am making. I modified that IR camera for taking pictures of burning stuff, not making models look like zombies.)

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
  3. Well, any feature is fine... by Loibisch · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...as long as the world doesn't look like this.

  4. Webcam? by Nasajin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who would want a web-cam for an eye anyway? I mean, seriously, it's about 1fps, shitty resolution, terrible image, etc.

    If I was paying for a new eye, I'd probably invest more than fifty bucks on it.

  5. but will it have bluetooth? by jollyreaper · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sorry, I just can't read this article without thinking about G'Kar and what he spies with his little eye.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  6. I think we need to combine this story by fiordhraoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    with this one, just for maximum creep out factor.

    "I wonder what's going on down the hall?"
    *Fwoomp*

  7. Wireless? by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    FTA:
    "It is possible to build a wireless camera with the dimensions of the eyeball,"
    Want said the camera, which would be encased in Vlach's prosthesis to avoid moisture, could link wirelessly to a smart phone.
    The smart phone could send power to the camera wirelessly and relay the camera's video feed by cell phone network to another person,

    The effects of cellphone emissions are as yet unproven to be harmful or not harmful. But I'd think putting the rad source right next to your brain, without even the skull material as a blocker, would be a pretty bad idea.

    But, if she wants to be the guinea pig...go for it.
    Who knows...she may spontaneously sprout a 3rd eye.

    1. Re:Wireless? by UncleTogie · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well.. the eye socket is already a hole in the brain

      Silly me... All this time I thought it was an opening in the skull...

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  8. Human hack by ItsColdOverHere · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Imagine cracking the encryption (if any) in the wireless feed from the eye to the receiver. Instant Ghost in the Shell

  9. Think of the DMCA ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    she'll never be admitted into a movie-theatre again !!!

    "im sorry ma'am ... is that a recording device in your eye socket ? "

    BANNED !!!

    1. Re:Think of the DMCA ! by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually it would be funny. She'd have to leave her eye at the counter. And then...

      Some guy - What happened to your eye, lady?
      Tanya Vlach - Movies prices, these days... They cost 10$ and an eye.

  10. see what I see by nategoose · · Score: 5, Funny

    She could have the camera transmit it's images to a screen positioned over her good eye so she could see what was going on.

  11. Here's the blog link; by Eganicus · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://tanyavlach.wordpress.com/

  12. Tanya wants 3D vision again... by rtgarden · · Score: 3, Informative

    Tanya is my pal and we discussed this on facebook. Originally she asked about a webcam, however I pointed out to her that she may be able to regain vision properly if we can match her with the right scientist (who is that guy that helped people see with a chair?). She lost her eye in an auto accident returning from Burningman two years ago, and she would very much like her eye back please. She would also accept infrared, UV and any other type of alternative vision that could go along with this. She is the sort of artist who could genuinely take advantage of this technology, and I seriously hope that we can find someone to work with her.