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February 19, 2008 2:08 PM PST

Jakks Pacific brings night vision to kids

by Will Greenwald
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The EyeClops Night Vision

EyeClops Night Vision, for adorable little black ops

(Credit: Jakks Pacific)

When a kid's toy claims to offer "night vision," it usually means some red- or green-colored lights to actually illuminate the darkness. Real night-vision devices, on the other hand, use an electronic imager to let user navigate in total darkness with an infrared light that's completely invisible to the naked eye. They also cost several hundred dollars, and are not for kids.

Jakks Pacific has decided to bridge the gap between light-up toy and half-grand military technology with the EyeClops Night Vision. It's a functional night-vision device that uses an infrared imager and LCD monocle to let kids navigate around in complete darkness. The company claims its built-in IR LEDs let the goggles see up to 20 feet in completely dark environments. While Jakks Pacific didn't have a final version available at Toy Fair, it did offer a prototype demonstration of the mechanism that indeed made a nearly pitch-black room navigable.

The company also revealed the EyeClops BioniCam, a digital-camera-equipped version of the EyeClops digital microscope. Like the original EyeClops, the BioniCam can magnify objects by 100x, 200x, or 400x and display those objects on a television. This new model adds its own LCD screen, so you don't need to plug it into anything to see things close-up. It can also record pictures and video of your subjects to an included USB memory key, so you can upload them to your computer and share them online. The EyeClops Night Vision and BioniCam are both scheduled to ship in fall 2008, and will retail for about $80 each.

January 22, 2008 5:18 AM PST

EyeClops has a big brother

by Mike Yamamoto
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(Credit: Jakks Pacific)

Apparently, our feelings about creepy eyeball gadgets aren't shared by the mass consumer market. Not only did the "EyeClops Bionic Eye" succeed despite our considerable misgivings, but the magnifying device has come back for another round--bigger and badder than ever.

The wireless "EyeClops BioniCam" from Jakks Pacific has doubled the top magnification to 400x and has its own built-in color LCD instead of requiring a computer screen for viewing. It also comes with a USB flash drive presumably to record and transfer whatever images are projected on it, according to Dvice. All we can say is, heaven help us.

July 13, 2007 5:00 AM PDT

Giant eyeball magnifies 200x; crowds flee

by Mike Yamamoto
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Enough already--how many times do we need to say "uncle"? We've been admitted afraid, very afraid, of eyeball-shaped gadgetry for some time now, in case anyone cares. But now they're imposing their ocular creepiness on kids, and that's just wrong.

(Credit: Toys 'R' Us)

Gizmodo noticed that Toys "R" Us, of all places, has come up with a nightmare-inducing thing called the "EyeClops Bionic Eye," a handheld contraption that supposedly magnifies whatever it "sees" on an order of 200x and displays it on whatever TV it's plugged into.

All it needs is a few bulging red veins to complete the effect. If the lens needs cleaning, do you use a giant bottle of Visine? If there was ever a downside to high definition, this would be it.

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