Filmmaker Rob Spence – aka the ‘Eyeborg’ – has finally explained why he decided to replace his lost eye with a wireless camera in 2007.
His eye had to be surgically removed following a shooting accident when he was a child.
However, he decided against a traditional prosthetic.
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How he suffered a lost eye
“I was messing around with a 12 gauge shotgun [and] I tried to shoot a pile of cow crap, but I wasn’t the gun properly,” he told CNN Business in 2011 about the lost eye.
“I had my eye right against the gun like a cowboy in the movies and there was an accident.”
Following several surgical attempts to try to save the organ, his cornea degenerated and he ultimately had the eye removed in 2007.
Afterward, he made an unusual decision – rather than getting a traditional prosthetic, he replaced his eye with a camera.
The wireless camera
Spence employed designer Kosta Grammatis to help him design the innovative wireless camera that is placed behind a prosthetic eye.
Meanwhile, electrical engineer Martin Ling helped create a tiny circuit board that takes data from the camera and sends it to a receiver, LiveScience reported.
The wireless camera includes a micro transmitter, small battery, miniature camera, and a magnetic switch for him to turn it on and off.
It can film up to 30 minutes of video before it needs to be recharged.
While not connected to his optic nerve, he has used his unique point-of-view in his filmmaking work.
“The great thing about engineers is that the love science fiction and pop culture, and this is a very science fiction-y/pop culture thing to do,” he told CNN.
According to his website, his prosthetic-eye wardrobe has three options: a clear shell that reveals the tech inside, a biologically realistic one, and a glowing red version reminiscent of the Terminator.
The exclusive and record-breaking tech saw him be named the man with the first bionic-camera-equipped false eye in the Guinness World Book of Records in 2009.
In other camera technology, this AI-powered ‘Poetry Camera’ transforms photos into poems in a world first.
However, it wasn’t Arnie’s iconic role that gave him the idea.
Per an interview with the BBC, he drew inspiration from a Six Million Dollar Man action figure he had as a child.
In other prosthetic innovation, one engineer built a DIY prosthetic hand that doesn’t require a battery or electricity.
It’s all very reminiscent of Elon Musk’s claims Neuralink patients will soon be able to outperform pro gamers with their brain-chip implants.
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