A Disconcerting Webcam Shaped Like a Human Eye

Interaction designer and researcher Marc Teyssier (previously) of the Resilient Futures group at the De Vinci Innovation Center in Courbevoie, France has designed the Eyecam", a truly disconcerting, uncanny webcam in the shape of a human eye. This includes all of the physical attributes including a working lid, eyelashes, and an arched eyebrow. The eye also moves in a natural anthropomorphic manner - blinking, rolling, winking, etc., as if it were an extension of the human using it.

What if seeing devices looked like us? Eyecam is a prototype exploring the potential future design of sensing devices. Eyecam is a webcam shaped like a human eye that can see, blink, look around and observe us.

Teyssier states that he created this camera in order to address the larger issue of hidden surveillance.

The purpose of this project is to speculate on the past, present and future of technology. We are surrounded by sensing devices. From surveillance camera observing us in the street, Google or Alexa speakers listen to us or webcam in our laptop, constantly looking at us. They are becoming invisible, blending into our daily lives, up to a point where we are unaware of their presence and stop questioning how they look, sense, and act.

The Eyecam" prototype is an open source project.

The design of Eyecam result of a long iterative process. The main technical challenge was to pack the motors and electronics as tightly as possible to maintain the eye proportions. I believe that this mechanism can benefit others. It should be reproduced and reappropriated by researchers, designers, or makers who wish to experience it, explore it, and extend to create provoking, novel or uncanny sensing device.

I did a creepy thing (again). The human eye webcam. #hci #robotics #diy #speculativedesign #design #CHI2021 More info and #opensource : https://t.co/F61Y9Ut4Da pic.twitter.com/SkDOcbY74p

- Marc Teyssier (@marcteyssier) April 7, 2021

The whole prototype is Open Source. It uses some motors, #arduino and #3dprinting. I used a @Raspberry_Pi Zero and a tiny camera hidden in the eyeball. pic.twitter.com/kXm3fcQW6j

- Marc Teyssier (@marcteyssier) April 7, 2021

The most tricky part to make was the realistic skin. I had a ton of fun sculpting, playing with silicone casting and pigmentation (and glueing real hairs). pic.twitter.com/IPsy174aDP

- Marc Teyssier (@marcteyssier) April 7, 2021

via Nerdist

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