Man who lost his eye explains why he replaced it with a wireless camera
Topics: Technology, Science, Life, Guinness World Records
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Topics: Technology, Science, Life, Guinness World Records
While most people would be pretty heartbroken to lose one of their eyes, Rob Spence saw it as an opportunity.
Rob, AKA the 'Eyeborg', experienced a shooting accident when he was a child which ultimately lead to his eye having to be surgically removed.
"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 recalled to CNN Business in 2011.
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"I had my eye right against the gun like a cowboy in the movies and there was an accident," Rob further explained.
He went on to undergo several surgeries to try save his eye and it wasn't until his cornea eventually degenerated some years later that Rob had to have it removed.
But instead of being downbeat about it, Rob immediately started making plans about replacing his lost eye with a camera.
Independent radio-frequency engineer and designer Kosta Grammatis helped Rob design is innovative camera eye - a wireless camera that sits behind a prosthetic eye.
The device included a micro transmitter, a small battery, a miniature camera and a magnetic switch for Rob to turn it on and off with.
Electrical engineer Martin Ling later helped them create a miniscule circuit board that takes all the data from the camera and send it out to the wider world via a receiver, LiveScience reported.
It should be noted that the camera eye is not connected to Rob's optic nerve.
Speaking to CNN, Rob admitted that he was worried that people would think that he was 'screwing with them' when he first asked for help to design his camera eye - but he found this not to be the case.
"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 said.
Rob's eye can film up to 30 minutes of video before needing to be recharged. With Rob being a filmmaker, he has used his extremely unique point-of-view content in his work - which is one of the main reasons for him having the device made.
As per Rob's website, there's been several versions of his innovative camera eye created.
Some versions include 'a clear shell that shows the tech inside, a realistic looking one, and a red glowing Terminator version'.
Rob has broken records with his exclusive technology with his idea listed as the first bionic-camera-equipped false eye in the Guinness World Book of Records.
He achieved the prestigious award in 2009.
As to where he got the idea from, Rob drew inspiration from a Six Million Dollar Man action figure he had as a kid, the filmmaker previously told BBC.