Nov 19, 2008 7:38 pm US/Pacific
SF Artist Wants Bionic Eye To Share Her Vision
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
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35-year-old Tanya Vlach is the beholder of the eye which could soon be a lens to the world. An artificial eye, actually. Her left eye was damaged in an auto accident three years ago.
CBS
It's a little bit of art, mixed in with science fiction. A San Francisco artist who lost her eye wants to use technology to offer her unique perspective on the world.
35-year-old Tanya Vlach is the beholder of the eye which could soon be a lens to the world. An artificial eye, actually. Her left eye was damaged in an auto accident three years ago.
So she wants to place a tiny camera in the space her eye once lived.
"Video cameras are becoming smaller and smaller and smaller that there was a possibility that I could get something small enough to put inside my artificial eye," Vlach said.
It won't bring back her sight. But if it was hooked up to a tiny transmitter and streamed on the Internet, as is her goal, it might give others some insight.
"It's a very unique perspective," she told CBS 5. "I hope they can see something beautiful. I hope they can appreciate what I'm seeing."
San Francisco ocularist Willie Danz sees all kinds of possibilities.
His family has made eyes for five generations, but none like this one.
"It will involve hollowing out the prostheses itself, incorporating the electronics and camera in there, and transmitter in there," Danz said.
All in the thin, thin shell that makes up his handiwork. And that's pretty thin.
But Vlach has been soliciting advice from engineers on her
website, and it looks promising.
"Lots of engineering responses," she said. "I am definitely in need of some tech consultation, and then funding. This is very expensive, I'm not sure yet."
But what about her private moments, and the privacy of others?
Don't expect much. Vlach said she'll turn it off when appropriate. It's not meant for shock value. It's meant to be art, and cathartic.
"I won't be able to see with it," she said. "But it's my way of recreating my eye."
With it, she'll be showing people what she'd be seeing, if only she could.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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