EyeTap

Man wearing a one-eyed injection-molded EyeTap
EyeTap inventor Steve Mann wearing a metal frame Laser EyeTap (computer-controlled laser light source run from "GlassEye" camera)

An EyeTap[1][2][3] is a concept for a wearable computing device that is worn in front of the eye that acts as a camera to record the scene available to the eye as well as a display to superimpose computer-generated imagery on the original scene available to the eye.[3][4] This structure allows the user's eye to operate as both a monitor and a camera as the EyeTap intakes the world around it and augments the image the user sees allowing it to overlay computer-generated data over top of the normal world the user would perceive.

In order to capture what the eye is seeing as accurately as possible, an EyeTap uses a beam splitter[5] to send the same scene (with reduced intensity) to both the eye and a camera. The camera then digitizes the reflected image of the scene and sends it to a computer. The computer processes the image and then sends it to a projector. The projector sends the image to the other side of the beam splitter so that this computer-generated image is reflected into the eye to be superimposed on the original scene. Stereo EyeTaps modify light passing through both eyes, but many research prototypes (mainly for reasons of ease of construction) only tap one eye.

EyeTap is also the name of an organization founded by inventor Steve Mann[6][7][8][9] to develop and promote EyeTap-related technologies such as wearable computers.[4][10]

  1. ^ "Seattle band has already benefited by using ringtone". The Seattle Times. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Why life as a cyborg is better". Daily Times. 19 January 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  3. ^ a b Bergstein, Brian (12 January 2004). "Professor's 25 years of cyborg life mirrors tech advances". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b "The ultimate wearable computer". USA Today. 25 June 2001. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  5. ^ Grieser, Andy (20 June 2001). "Now computers are built to suit Wearable technology has a few wrinkles, but usage is expanding". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  6. ^ "Being Steve Mann: Cyberwear pioneer alters his reality". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 26 March 2000. p. A17. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  7. ^ Brad King (12 March 2002). "Part Man, Part Film, All Mann". Wired.com. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Cyborg genius claims he's the next step in human evolution". The Jamaica Observer. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  9. ^ Schechter, Bruce (25 September 2001). "SCIENTIST AT WORK: STEVE MANN; Real-Life Cyborg Challenges Reality With Technology". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  10. ^ Shinn, Eric (8 July 2001). "Part man, part machine – all nerd; 'Wearable computer' pioneer Steve Mann keeps one eye locked on the future". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2009.