[HN Gopher] The Human Eye Webcam [video]
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       The Human Eye Webcam [video]
        
       Author : zdw
       Score  : 98 points
       Date   : 2021-04-09 15:48 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | ccn0p wrote:
       | i thought April 1st was last week
        
       | markbnj wrote:
       | Made me think of
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_the_Beholder_(video_gam...
        
       | zwieback wrote:
       | Would it be even creepier if there were two eyes? Or better? I
       | hope we never find out.
        
       | echelon wrote:
       | I first saw this on TikTok last year as a variety of human-
       | looking body parts that move and blink:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn5HAtc9qJ0
       | 
       | It's interesting to see other artists take a concept and run with
       | it, extending it in new ways. Now it's cropping up everywhere.
       | 
       | This is going to be a fad for a bit.
        
         | 1-6 wrote:
         | One day, little kids will run up to you and try to press your
         | moles.
        
       | megous wrote:
       | I wonder if it was made out of a fleshlight.
        
       | crispyambulance wrote:
       | Interesting, but geez, they really are going deep into the
       | "uncanny valley" with that thing.
        
       | gmoore wrote:
       | sorry- that's just super creepy
        
         | chki wrote:
         | You should watch the full video - that's the point.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | laretluval wrote:
       | NO
        
       | wussboy wrote:
       | I hate this. I hate how it looks. I hate that it tracks me around
       | the room.
       | 
       | I can't explain this hate. It's just my visceral reaction.
        
         | rektide wrote:
         | "it tracks me" is a symptom of a technological regime in which
         | we have little control, in which we think of our devices as
         | "it's", where we can not form a closer bond & begin to think of
         | devices & technology as an extension of ourselves & our will.
         | 
         | devices have some other will, some other purpose, not quite our
         | own, enscribed in them when they are delivered to us. i think
         | that if we had a paradigm of computing where there were ambient
         | neutral sensors peripherals & other capabilities around us, and
         | we were permitted the role of orchestrator: i think that socio-
         | techno-logical cultural be able to see something like this & be
         | excited, be more able to welcome the technology in.
        
       | spoonjim wrote:
       | This is outstanding engineering but absolute nightmare fuel.
        
         | bentcorner wrote:
         | +1. There's some neat innovations here though - having the eye
         | mimic the expression on the other side of the video stream,
         | better tracking, _extremely_ obvious on /off states. The eye-
         | lid also might give the viewer a more immersive experience
         | (movies sometimes use this effect and it works pretty well).
         | 
         | But the whole thing looks disturbing - if this was turned into
         | a real product you'd probably want something more cartoony.
        
         | nexthash wrote:
         | I think that's the point - we are surrounded by devices that
         | are always watching and listening. If they looked like eyes and
         | ears, maybe we would think twice about how and where we use
         | them.
        
       | jackallis wrote:
       | i don't know about you, but i got crepped out.
        
       | xyzzy21 wrote:
       | Not creepy at all... NOT.
       | 
       | But maybe that's the point. A webcam already can surveil like
       | this.
        
       | sarora27 wrote:
       | I'm reminded of the "eye statues" at the dungeon entrance of a
       | Legend of Zelda game on Gameboy color:
       | 
       | https://www.purezc.net/Tiles/t1s1.gif
        
         | toxik wrote:
         | Or the LINC eye from Beneath a steel sky
         | 
         | http://selmiak.bplaced.net/games/pc/steelsky/27.png
        
       | david422 wrote:
       | Good for Halloween maybe. The other 364 days of the year ... no
       | thanks.
        
       | waynesoftware wrote:
       | Unbelievably creepy
        
       | tywkeene wrote:
       | nah man, nah
        
       | graiz wrote:
       | Creepy AF.
        
       | hsnewman wrote:
       | Now there is a product looking for a market. I suppose people who
       | like to be watched (exhibitionists)?
        
         | tomger wrote:
         | I take it your attention span is shorter than 2 minutes.
        
       | surround wrote:
       | If we thought of cameras as human _eyes_ and microphones as human
       | _ears_ then maybe we wouldn 't be as comfortable with internet-
       | enabled doorbell cams, or internet-enabled smart speakers in our
       | homes, always watching, always listening.
        
         | grawprog wrote:
         | Hmmmm so maybe one of these to go with the eye camera?
         | 
         | https://3diosound.com/products/free-space-binaural-microphon...
        
           | fileeditview wrote:
           | This image gives me some kind of knee-jerk reaction:
           | 
           | https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0995/9804/products/3Dio_FS.
           | ..
           | 
           | It somehow says: how to dull your senses and use a gimmick to
           | replace them.
           | 
           | Note: this product may be of use.. this is just my reflex on
           | seeing this.
        
             | grawprog wrote:
             | The other commenter is likely right. My other comment was
             | mostly a joke. Those mics are for recording binaural audio.
             | Each ear has a directional mic that's positioned
             | approximately the same distance as human ears apart.
             | 
             | Audio recorded using them will give a sense of 3d space
             | that's supposed to mimic sound as heard by our ears when
             | listened to in stereo.
             | 
             | I think they're mostly used for recording ASMR or VR
             | content?
             | 
             | Though, I've always wondered if they might give a more live
             | kind of sound if used to record acoustic music or
             | something.
        
             | tomjakubowski wrote:
             | I think that guy is supposed to be recording binaural audio
             | with the microphone and monitoring the levels with the
             | headphones. Not using the mic to replace his senses.
        
         | megous wrote:
         | I'd like to share your optimism.
        
         | rektide wrote:
         | Not exactly human eyes, but putting googley eyes on
         | robots[1][2] seems to have become one of the primary strategy
         | to make scary machine robots feel more anthropomoric & non-
         | hostile.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/giant-
         | grocery-s...
         | 
         | [2] https://www.fastcompany.com/90395110/how-googly-eyes-
         | solved-...
        
         | falcor84 wrote:
         | Would you mind expanding on your thinking regarding the
         | doorbell? Wouldn't that just be the same as hiring a doorman to
         | stand outside? I don't find that thought particularly
         | troubling.
        
           | oliwarner wrote:
           | I guess it depends where you live.
           | 
           | If you live in a quiet little cul-de-sac, where nothing ever
           | happens, having somebody stand on your site reporting on your
           | neighbours' movements might seem --to your neighbours--
           | slightly invasive.
        
             | falcor84 wrote:
             | I'm not sure about other doorbell cameras, but the basic*
             | Ring camera should only trigger the video recording on
             | proximity detection, so that's like a very near-sighted
             | doorman, who only notices the very nosy neighbors.
             | 
             | *I understand that some more expensive versions do take
             | continuous low-energy recordings, and I do find that
             | somewhat disturbing.
        
       | antegamisou wrote:
       | Someone make a Furby based one.
        
         | Arrath wrote:
         | Well, that dredges up some old nightmares.
        
       | ElijahLynn wrote:
       | I looked at the date instantly for April 1st, but nope, it is
       | April 7th.
        
       | orthecreedence wrote:
       | I was kind of hoping it would be a contact that records video.
       | Like a spy device or something.
        
         | k_sze wrote:
         | Or the interceptor in one of the GotS:SAC episodes.
        
         | wongarsu wrote:
         | I don't think we are there yet technologically. The best we
         | have are eye implants for the blind that give you a couple
         | kilopixels at best. Power delivery and waste heat are major
         | limitations.
         | 
         | If I remember right Google Glass was cancelled in part over the
         | backlash from the privacy implications of this kind of thing.
        
           | orthecreedence wrote:
           | Yeah true, I completely forgot about that angle. Google Glass
           | was creepy and dumb, and some kind of eye contact camera
           | would be worse.
        
       | DennisP wrote:
       | To everyone saying it's creepy, they call it "design fiction" so
       | I think that's the point. We really do have little eyes looking
       | at us much of the time. If they actually looked like eyes or we
       | at least thought of them that way, then maybe we'd think a little
       | more about whether we really want them around.
        
         | daniel_reetz wrote:
         | Precisely! Also, several other artists have explored this
         | space. Golan Levin's Opto-Isolator comes to mind:
         | https://vimeo.com/5145369 and also "double taker: snout" if you
         | want to see this idea at scale:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjUwH9tOdus
        
         | fortran77 wrote:
         | Well, it's more than "fiction" -- the build files are on
         | github!
         | 
         | https://marcteys.github.io/eyecam/
        
       | wpietri wrote:
       | Speaking of which, are there good, reasonably priced PTZ cameras
       | out there? I was thinking about trying to track "interesting"
       | activity out my window, but last I looked I couldn't find
       | anything hacker-friendly, not expensive, and likely to be
       | supported under Linux.
        
         | Miraste wrote:
         | I haven't tried it myself, but forums indicate you can get PTZ
         | Foscams to work with Shinobi and other Linux-supporting OSS
         | camera programs. They're <$100 on eBay depending on model.
        
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       (page generated 2021-04-09 23:02 UTC)