A South Korean designer has come up with a quirky solution for "smartphone zombies" who cannot take their eyes off their phone screens while walking, which puts them at risk of colliding with walls or other obstacles. Baing Min-wook, 28, developed a robotic eye called the "Third Eye" that smartphone users can place on their foreheads to allow them to browse their phones while walking. The eye opens whenever it detects that the user has lowered their head to check their phone, and when the user approaches an obstacle within one to two meters, the device emits a warning sound to alert them of the imminent danger.
Baing, a graduate student in Design Innovation Engineering at the Royal College of Arts and Imperial College London, told Reuters while demonstrating the Third Eye around Seoul: "This is the future vision of humanity, with three eyes." He added, "As we cannot stay away from smartphones, there will be a need for an additional eye in the future." The eye operates with a tilt sensor to measure the angle of the user's neck and an ultrasonic sensor to calculate the distance between the robotic eye and any obstacles in the path. Both sensors are connected to a single-board open-source microcontroller with a battery.
Baing's eye attracted the attention of passersby during its demonstration. A resident of Seoul, Lee Ok-jo, remarked, "I thought it was an alien with an eye on its forehead," adding, "These days, accidents can happen to young people while they are using their mobile phones. This would be good for them." Baing stated that the Third Eye aims to alert users and does not present a real solution for smartphone addicts who are unaware while walking. He elaborated, "By providing this satirical solution, I hope people will realize the seriousness of smartphone addiction and reconsider their habits."
