Japanese DJ, DJ Doooo, has a hobby that could be considered skin-crawling by some. The DJ, artist, and engineer likes to build hyper-realistic body parts, including disturbing robotic eye cubes. In the video below, YouTuber Chris Ramsay reviews one of the eye cubes, which is so deep in the uncanny valley it’s legitimately nightmarish.
Ramsay recently posted the video, in which he takes a look at all the robotic eye’s features. And while the faux flesh tchotchke isn’t an innovative IoT device, it does have a wide array of eye movements. Eye movements that can be controlled with an RC remote or… fingers.
Among the eye cube’s highlights are its lifelike-mole buttons, variable speed blinking, and ability to fall asleep when stroked. It also seems like stabbing the soft, silicone skin may make the eye shoot open, as if the cube is in pain. It’s unclear if that needs to be orchestrated with the remote, however.
Unfortunately, DJ Doooo’s eye cubes are not cheap. In fact, each one is shockingly expensive, with a price tag of $5,000. The cubes are custom made to match the eye of the orderer though, and it’s obvious the craftsmanship is next level. On top of that, each eye cube comes with a “gooey eye duct”; a feature that must be worth a few grand on its own.
For those who want to check out more of Doooo’s work, his Instagram page has tons of other eye cubes, mouths, fingers, and even belly buttons. Doooo also has stop-motion animations featuring his creations, which are quite entertaining. Tonally, the animations feel like a cross between Wallace & Gromit and horrible, horrible nightmares.
What do you think about DJ Doooo’s robotic eye cubes? Do these fleshy works of art speak to your soul, or do you want to burn them with fire? Let’s get some outside-of-the-cube thinking going in the comments!
Feature Image: Chris Ramsay