Just like the Bionic Man, Rob Spence has a prosthetic eye. But instead of fighting crime, he uses it to make films. Rather than use a GoPro or Facebook Live to document his surroundings, Spence can do so with his own eye. He’s been stumping at TED Talks, boasting the technology, which has robot enthusiasts calling it a first step toward technological “singularity” e.g. the marrying of tech with the human body.
After a childhood accident with a shotgun — a la “A Christmas Story” — left him blind in his right eye, Spence decided not to let it slow him down in his career as a filmmaker. So in 2007, he enlisted the help of a team of engineers to design him a prosthetic eye with a special attachment: a video camera, which Spence calls “the Eyeborg.” The device fits snugly into Spence’s eye socket. Although he can’t see out of it — since it isn’t connected to his brain — the prosthetic contraption allows him to film his surroundings for short periods of time.
Time Magazine named the Eyeborg among the top 50 inventions of 2009. Since then, Spence has put the tech to use, filming a documentary. (To pay the bills, he does commercial work for brands such as Ford, Salesforce and Absolut Vodka.) Spence has also given TED talks on cybernetics and the future of human bodily modification.
Most recently, Spence appeared at the FutureWorld tech conference in Toronto, where he showed off his fancy ocular gadget to a crowd of robotics enthusiasts at the Ontario College of Art and Design, reports Vice.
Spence told TheWrap that he plans to employ the Eyeborg as more of a toy than a filmmaking tool in the future. The Canadian filmmaker and tech enthusiast said he currently uses his prosthetic eye camera as “the world’s most absurd toy for one-eyed filmmakers.” In fact, he doesn’t actually use it for his work. Spence said, “That’s like trying to be a journalist but your style of writing is stream-of-consciousness.” Among the top challenges that come with using the tiny tech: “I get blinking, glancing, and the picture is 320×240 with analog dropouts.” As for the reason why he transitioned out of making documentaries to commercial content: “Documentary is an expensive hobby.”
You can keep up with Rob Spence, his Eyeborg, and his upcoming projects on his website.