Scientists Working On Webcam Eyeball

Talk about sci-fi meeting reality: A woman who lost her eye in a car accident may soon have it replaced with a Webcam — one that can record and wirelessly transmit every image she sees.

Scientists around the world are already working on prototypes. The idea would be to create an actual “eye-cam” that’d dilate like a regular eye while retaining full camera functionality. So, yes, the woman would be able to capture any moment of her life with a single blink.

(The blink control isn’t an exaggeration, either — the specs call for a system that can be zoomed, focused, and turned on and off by opening and shutting the eyelid.)

Engineers claim the concept isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. An Intel scientist says eyeball-sized cameras can already be created without much trouble. An eye-implanted device, he tells the New York Daily News, would just have to be encased inside a prosthetic device so it wouldn’t create complications.

Some of the advanced options the woman is hoping for include MPEG recording, a DVR system, a built-in SD mini-card slot, A/V out ports, and bluetooth connectivity. (This is all real. Check out her blog if you don’t believe me.) All of that, of course, would mean she could send a real-time, raw stream of everything she’s seeing to any phone or computer, any time she wants.

Hmm. I may just have to see if I can talk my girlfriend into letting me get one of these things.