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A Watchful Eye
We speak to entrepreneur and filmmaker Rob Spence who is in town for The Other Film Festival...
Rob Spence is an entrepreneur and documentarian, but the Canadian is best known for developing the "Eyeborg" camera, a small, digital camera that acts as a prosthetic eye for Spence (who lost his right eye as a child playing with a gun). Named one of Time Magazine's Top 50 Inventions of 2009, the Eyeborg - which was developed with specialists Kosta Grammatis, Martin Ling, Phil Bowen, John Polanski and camera donor OmniVision - has given Spence an opportunity to discuss this new filmmaking technology all over the world.
In Melbourne as a jury member for The Other Film Festival - a festival which exhibits films about and by people with disabilities - Spence will also present his "Eyeborg."
How did you get involved with The Other Film Festival?
[Festival Director] Rick Randall basically stalked me online and originally wanted me to get a film into the Festival. But (I said), "Look, I don't have one." So he thought it would be cool if I came down and did a talk about Eyeborg, surveillance, that sort of thing and also be part of the film jury.
This week, you are going to be presenting Eyeborg technology. How have people responded to the technology so far?
Very well, indeed. I have discovered that people in Australia are not as freaked out about it as some people in other countries are. I find people here a little bit like Canadians. More easy-going, you know. They make the assumption that I am not an asshole right off the bat which is not what happens in some other countries. People are a little suspicious of a little camera in the eye but I can't do any more damage than anyone else with a small discreet camera.
What are their concerns? Is it simply surveillance?
I think it is a funny thing. People are concerned with ‘Oh, because you have a camera in your eye, you are going to try and catch me out saying something horrible and put it on YouTube.' Because everybody these days - including your grandmother - has a small video camera. But I think what is really going on is that it feels like it is a betrayal and that it is part of the body. The eye is supposed to be the window into the soul - not the, you know, the window into YouTube.
What are the practical implications of the device? Have you got it down to a size you are happy with?
No, I will never be happy with it. And that's great. It is not a human eye. I can keep upgrading it. That would be like asking Steve Jobs if he is happy with his iPhone. He's never happy with it. He's going to keep changing it as often as he can and as significantly as he can.
Are you concerned with any of the consequences for your eye, whether it could lead to disfigurement?
No. In fact, it is usually journalists on a cell phone who ask me that question and cell phones are, approximately, 300 times more potent and dangerous than a camera eye. The battery power I have is in this very small space, so much smaller - yet powerful - than a cell phone. Then the real question is: how bad are cell phones for you? And how bad is something 300 times less powerful for you?
Can you talk about your intentions for your documentary?
The documentary I would like to get funding for in the near future, one tentative title for it is Pimp My Gimp. And, that would be, approaching people just like myself who are missing a part of their body and playing with that space to either augment or have fun with or, you know, mess around with pop culture or gadgetry. In, fact, if you can go to my blog now there is a casting call for an actress with one leg. So we can outfit her.
On your blog, you have a lot of references to pop culture: The Six Million Dollar Man, Grindhouse. Is that just a short-hand for people?
Well, you could say that. But there was an interesting show on a while ago that said that all the interesting inventions that have come to life could potentially have resulted from Star Trek. Starting with doors that open on their own. I think there is a fluid, back-and-forth relationship between science fiction and pop culture, and what ends up being invented. I know in my case, half the reasons I have been able to get things done is that engineers are volunteering their time because they are excited about making pop culture come to life. From an engineering point of view - it is a valid, you know, chicken-and-egg. You know, which one is the chicken? Which one is the egg?
The Other Film Festival will screen in Melbourne until 29th of August. For more information, visit the festival website. For more on Rob and Eyeborg, head to the blog.