Eyechat
Overall Reactions
- Many find the concept “neat,” funny, and creatively executed; several call it another strong project from the same site.
- Others experience significant discomfort or anxiety, especially around intense forced eye contact; some liken it to a torture method or note it would be especially hard for autistic people.
- A few users report patterns after several sessions (e.g., many participants having brown eyes, quickly switching to silly faces, some leaving abruptly).
Privacy, Biometrics, and Tracking
- A major thread centers on whether it’s wise to grant camera access to “a random site.”
- Some are relaxed, pointing out that they’re filmed constantly in public or already give large platforms much more data.
- Others refuse to enable the camera at all, going straight to the comments.
- Strong criticism of the site’s cookie banner: claims of hundreds of ad “vendors” and “legitimate interest” are seen as deceptive and disrespectful to user privacy.
- Comparisons are drawn to street surveillance vs. web tracking, with emphasis that websites can correlate biometrics with other identifiers, making entity resolution easier.
How It Works (Technical Notes)
- One commenter inspects the implementation and says eye extraction is done locally via a TensorFlow model (~15 MB), with video sent over WebRTC to peers via a TURN server.
- Another explicitly calls the “client-side only” claim false, so the exact guarantees are unclear.
- Several conclude this still boils down to whether users trust the site operator.
Monetization and Creator’s Work
- Discussion notes that other pages on the same domain show ads and likely earn significant revenue, especially popular games.
- Some express admiration for the polished, idea-driven projects and see them as “web as art,” while still criticizing ad and tracking practices.
User Experience, Social Dynamics, and Workarounds
- Some find instant, silent eye contact surprisingly jarring when the page loads with no explanation.
- Others enjoy the playful aspects, e.g., eyebrow–based aspect ratio changes.
- Suggestions include using a virtual webcam via OBS for shy or privacy-conscious users.
- A few compare it to Omegle but restricted to nonverbal interaction, and to cultural contexts where only eyes are visible in dating.
Broader Tech Tangents (Eye Contact Solutions)
- Thread branches into on-screen or under-display cameras and software-based “eye contact correction” (e.g., filters that digitally adjust gaze), with speculation that simulated eye contact may be the practical future.