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back to article Eyeball camera zooms into focus

Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin's bionic eye could become reality thanks to the development of a "curvilinear camera" that mimics the human eye, has added zoom capabilities and is the size of a one pence piece. US scientists from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois have constructed the "eyeball camera", …

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  1. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Happy

    I for one welcome...

    ...well you know!

    Bet you any money Captain Cyborg will be the first in line to try one of these out! Nice YouTube vid of Kevin's eyeball battery running out and him walking into a door frame!

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  2. Richard Porter
    Headmaster

    A one pence piece?

    We call this thing "a penny".

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Wasn't this...

      Wasn't this discussed to death recently in another place?

      Agreed: it is a "one penny piece". Pence is plural.

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  3. Graham Bartlett
    Happy

    Never mind Captain Cyborg

    I'd be game for this. One of my eyes doesn't work much anyway, so upgrading to a MkII Eyeball would be no great hardship.

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  4. TeeCee Gold badge
    Happy

    Put me down....

    ......for a pair of Zeiss-Ikon ones.

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  5. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Happy

    How long ...

    Until the first press headline that we'll all be walking around with eyes in the back of our heads by 2020.

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  6. Buzzword
    Flame

    In cold climates....

    H2O is the way forward? Maybe in hot countries, but if you take this thing out in sub-zero temperatures you're in for a shock. I'd recommend a liquid with a lower freezing point.

    Flame, because it's cold today

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    1. G Fan
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: I'd recommend a liquid with a lower freezing point

      Perhaps they could use the same stuff that's in human eyeballs - after all, people take eyeballs out in all sorts of weather conditions without them freezing, boiling or whatever. What's that stuff called?

      Oh yes, salty water.

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      1. Red Bren
        Reply Icon
        Jobs Horns

        That's disgusting!

        "people take eyeballs out in all sorts of weather conditions"

        Actually, it could come in handy. Stuck behind a tall person at a gig, cinema or theatre? Take your iBall* out and hold it in the air. No need for a mirror when you want to do your hair/make-up. And when you realise you've wasted your life making stupid comments on the interwebs, you can take it out and have a long hard look at yourself...

        * Give me a load of cash and you can have it Mr Jobs!

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        1. Red Bren
          Reply Icon
          Pint

          Commentard's remorse

          @ G Fan

          The "wasted your life making stupid comments" comment was self referential and not aimed at you!

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          1. G Fan
            Reply Icon
            Pint

            @Red Bren

            Quite alright, sir, 'tis equally applicable to me.

            I tried taking a long hard look at myself, but ended up with a slipped disc...

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  7. Lottie

    I'll take one!

    I'd be up for having a zoomable eyeball.

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  8. Graham Bartlett

    @Jason

    That's not hard - rear-view mirrors have been around for a very long time. The problem is how you should see what's behind you, bcos being descended from predator/scavenger species, our entire vision system is set up for looking forward. (Unlike prey species like cows or rabbits, which start off with a near-360-degree field of vision.) A HUD is fine, except it'll obscure what's in front of you, and no-one knows enough about the brain to try to rewire additional fields of view.

    And yes, I'm up for the Tally Isham irises.

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    1. Jerome 0
      Reply Icon

      Rewiring

      You'd be surprised - a considerable amount of research has shown that simply wiring in new inputs causes the brain to gradually learn how to interpret and make sense of them. Or was that a sci-fi book I read?

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      1. Red Bren
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Up

        It's real

        http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp.html

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  9. Graham Marsden
    Coat

    But...

    ... does it make that cool doo-d-d-d-d-d-doo-doo-doo-doo sound effect that always accompanied Austin's use of the zoom facility?

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Terminator

    Peni$ Cam

    Well if they are shrinking this down to the size of an eyeball, how long before we have Peni$ Cam? (Think camera at the tip - gives POV a whole new meaning).

    YES - I went there.

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  11. Rick Brasche

    now for the hard part

    making this thing interface with the optic nerve and controllable by nerve impulse from the operator.

    Until then, it's giving up depth perception (permanently) for the purpose of voyeurism or espionage.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The binoculars and telescope vendors....

    ....must be upset.

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  13. Oldfogey

    To see or not to see.....

    Low-res artificial retinas have already been successfully trialled - Good enough to read very large print.

    The human brain is very versatile at interpreting visual input. Fit somebody with prism glasses that make everything look upside down, and they will soon reprogram to see the world normally.

    A suitable non-freezing liquid? How about alcohol?

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  14. Snapper

    Anybody remember....

    the aliens in "Life of Brian"?

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  15. John 62

    Ambassador G'Kar

    I can't have been the only person to have thought of him, surely

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