San Francisco artist looks to replace lost eyeball with webcam

New York Dail News ^ | Saturday, November 15th 2008 | JOE GOULD

[nickcarraway]

A one-eyed San Francisco artist wants to replace her missing eye with a Web cam - and tech experts say it's possible.

"I'd always given thought to using cameras to restore sight to the blind," said Dr. William Danz, whose patient, Tanya Vlach, wants the groundbreaking device. "This is a little different, more like James Bond stuff."

Vlach, who lost her eye in a 2005 car accident, wears a realistic acrylic prosthesis, but she's issued a challenge to engineers on her blog: build an "eye cam" for her prosthesis that can dilate with changes of light and allow her to blink to control its zoom, focus, and on/off switch.

"There have been all sorts of cyborgs in science fiction for a long time, and I'm sort of a sci-fi geek," said Vlach, 35. "With the advancement of technology, I thought, 'Why not?'"

The eye cam could allow her to record her entire life or even shoot a reality TV show from her eye's perspective. Vlach said she will let inspiration strike once she has the device.

"There are a lot of ideas floating around...nothing too exploitative," said Vlach. "I don't want to be a spy and infringe on people's rights, and at the same time, there are amazing possibilities."

Vlach's challenge, first reported by tech blogger Kevin Kelly, has inspired blog posts from around the world and e-mails to Vlach from dozens of eager engineers.

Mobile computing expert Roy Want told the Daily News the technology exists.

"It is possible to build a wireless camera with the dimensions of the eyeball," said Want, a senior principal engineer at Intel. "You can find spy cams or nanny cams designed to fit into inconspicuous places in the home."

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, a TV studio or a computer.

In a world where eye cams are common, they might serve as a kind of computerized backup to people's memories, Want said.

"You'd never need to forget anything again," he said. "You'd never lose anything. You could ask it, 'Where was the last time I saw my keys?'"

[Kimmers]

pretty cool in a creepy sci- fi sort of way.....

[Constitution Day]

[pillut48]

Gonna need a little prettying up though...

[JRios1968]

[Constitution Day]

WHAT YOU SAY!!

[JRios1968]

[Young Werther]

May seem Sci Fi but after the development of the cochlear implant which Rush wears, the bionic eyes is already shedding light on the blind.

When the first retinal implants were tested Stevie Wonder applied to be one of the test subjects but was denied since he had been blind since birth. He had no visual memories so he would not be able to describe what he was seeing. A 50 year old man was one of the test subjects who had lost his sight when he was about 40. He received the implant and after recuperating from the surgery he could describe his wife shadow since his implant only provide him with a black and white image.

This was reported many years ago.

See More Here!

[MooseMan]

Pretty cool except you'll be seeing what goes on in San Francisco.

Thanks but no thanks!

[Daffynition]

As long as they don't let Bill Gates near the technology....

[gathersnomoss]

I can see it now...it is a warm and sunny spring afternoon and as you are driving through a college campus you just happen to spot a fine young lady...she seems to be studying for an exam while lying blissfully amongst the blooming forsythia and azalea bushes, as your right eye is being monitored by your wife.

Oh yeah, that's going to work out just fine.

[weegee]

pretty cool in a creepy sci- fi sort of way.....

"Pretty cool" until you realize that someone can hack every thing you see in a day.

Although you'd be able to video every concert you go to. Hollywood would never let you go into a movie theater ever again.

[timm22]

...she's issued a challenge to engineers on her blog: build an "eye cam" for her prosthesis ... "There have been all sorts of cyborgs in science fiction for a long time, and I'm sort of a sci-fi geek," said Vlach, 35. "With the advancement of technology, I thought, 'Why not?'"

Shucks, why can't I find a woman like this? Most of my dates tend to bail on me shortly after I start describing the various cybernetic enhancements I want.

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Neat.. but it would be neater if she could actually see out of the fake eye..

[wastedyears]

Mr. Roboto coming to life.

[Secret Agent Man]

Please turn it off going to the crapper....

[conservative cat]

Hmmmmm. Interesting. My daughter is blind in her right eye. We’d just rather she see through it, again.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Reminds me of one of the characters in Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead. One of Novinha's kids (Olhado) had metal eyes, one of which was basically a camera.

[bvw]

Weird, but why not? It is one path to making replacement eyes for people who have lost sight — like cochlear implants are for ears.

[Lokibob]

She is the one eye love.

.....Bob

[bert]

Any Board watch readers still alive here?

[bert]

The real thing

[RichInOC]

If she liveblogs the Folsom Street Fair...be very afraid. What has been seen cannot be unseen.

[FelixFelicis]

[martin_fierro]

[Kevmo]

bmflr

[steve-b]

It could be particularly useful if it used a wireless interface:

Londo: ...they are quite a couple, aren't they?
G'Kar: Yes, they are.
Londo: [chuckles] Almost makes you wish that you could peek in on them, see how it's going.... G'Kar, where is the eye that Dr. Franklin gave you?

[Scythian]

What about this eye piece?

[steve-b]

Eyepiece? Where?

[SunkenCiv]

I think some sort of government grant is appropriate.

Oh, and I want a similar grant for my webcam shoe-tips idea.