Can't take your eyes off your smartphone? Don't worry, a South Korean industrial designer has come up with just the solution to prevent accidents.
Paeng Min-wook, 28, has developed a robotic eyeball he has dubbed "The Third Eye," which "smartphone zombies" can strap to their foreheads so they can browse injury-free on the go.
The device opens its translucent eyelid whenever it senses the user's head has been lowered to look at a smartphone. When the user comes within 1-2 meters (3.3-6.6 feet) of an obstacle, the device beeps to warn of the impending danger.
"This is the look of future mankind with three eyes," Paeng, a postgraduate in innovation design engineering at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, told Reuters as he demonstrated the use of The Third Eye around Seoul.
"As we cannot take our eyes off from smartphones, the extra eye will be needed in future."
Paeng's invention uses a gyro sensor to measure the oblique angle of the user's neck and an ultrasonic sensor to calculate the distance between the robotic eye and any obstacles. Both sensors are linked to an open-source single-board microcontroller, with a battery pack.
Paeng's demonstration of the device in Seoul this week garnered attention from passersby.
"I thought he looked like an alien with an eye on his forehead," Seoul resident Lee Ok-jo said. "These days many young people can get into accidents while using their mobile phone. This would be good for them."
Paeng said The Third Eye was meant as a warning, not a real solution for smartphone addicts who won't pay attention to where they are going.
“By presenting this satirical solution, I hope people would recognize the severity of their gadget addiction and look back at themselves,” he said.
