Eyeclops Night Vision

Here's how it works: Most digital cameras "see" infrared, this is how "nightshot" works on consumer video cameras. This is how the Eyeclops works. Instead of being an image intensifier tube as in "Genuine" night vision, the Eyeclops is a digital camera with two banks of IR LEDs and an LCD screen inside the goggle. The unit takes 5x AA batteries in a pack attached to the back of the headgear. This is where the on/off switch is. On the unit itself there is a switch to toggle green/white based image (more on this later) and toggle high/low IR illumination (more on this later).

Physical: it is a goggle type device with rubber head straps, mounted to the back of the straps is the power pack. In the centerline above the eyes is the camera and high power illuminator. Over the right eye is the low power illuminator. Inside the right eye cup is the LCD screen. The left eye has no purpose, and is a hatch that can be flipped up so your left eye can see normally. Detail: The LCD screen is really quite small, and the resolution is pretty low, however what you DO have is very clear. The field of view is incredibly narrow. Due to the image resolution, camera position (center of forehead, above eyes), and the magnifying effect of the camera the image is also not true to life. The image that you see is not as "close" as it seems. Illumination: There are two banks of illuminators. The "low" setting puts off no visible light. The "high" setting puts off enough visible light that one could see the glow at 30 feet or so. In the "low" mode you can clearly see out to about 20 feet. The "high" mode extends that to about 30 feet, but completely washes out the objects between 0 and 10 feet.

The Green/White toggle simply changes the color of the output. While this is a purely cosmetic feature, it does seem to help reduce eye fatigue. How it compares: The Eyeclops has a very sharp image compared to the Gen 1 devices I've used. The image at short range is clearer, and the lack of having to manually focus makes it easier to adjust looking at long/short range. The range of this device is significantly shorter than Gen 1 devices though. With genuine NV, backscatter light from city and moonlight improves the effectiveness of the unit. With the Eyeclops, it only "sees" reflected IR, so the only things you see are those lit up by the illuminators on the unit or on your weapon mounted illuminator.

Skirmishing: At Faction Wars 2 I played for about 1-1.5 hours, most of the time wearing the device. One of the biggest concerns with using the device is the fact that you cannot wear safety glasses while using it. While the device is on your head your eyes are protected, but if you lift it up you'll need to quickly put on your glasses. This issue could be alleviated if you removed the dummy left eye piece and put in a piece of metal mesh, this way you would have NV vision in your right eye, and regular vision in your left, and still be protected. Because of the camera placement and my eyes being covered up, I couldn't use my sights at all.

The one time I engaged another player I did so with point shooting and a 10 round burst. Using a laser of some kind (although giving away your position) would help with accurately aiming. Walking normally while wearing the device is practically impossible. Your depth perception goes to hell as does your perspective. I was able to crawl effectively simply because I was moving by touch. With the device I was able to see people that were moving about and crouching next to trees because their gear was very reflective to IR. The device doesn't "see" people that are silhouetted against a city light backscatter sky unless they are being illuminated by the LEDs. My regular eyes are able to see silhouettes better than the device. In September I hosted a game out in the middle of nowhere that included a nighttime mission. There was no city light backscatter, the only ambient light was from a half moon. I was paring the Eyeclops with a weapon mounted IR illumintator (surefire G2 + G&P IR filter). In open terrain I found it less than useful since the moon was casting enough light for me to spot enemies, which I could engage using my ACOG. In closer forested terrain the Eyeclops came in handy.

I would move 10 yards or so, then stop, put on the eyeclops and (using my G2) scan the surrounding area. Because cheap tac gear "glows" under IR illumination, I was able to spot and engage targets in a forested (and very dark) area. Due to the short vision range, I used the G2 as much as a target designator as an illuminator. The bottom line: The device could definitely find a place in the weekend warrior's bag of tricks. For use in stationary observation of an area, this device is useful. It is difficult to use to navigate unfamiliar terrain. The difficulty in switching between using the device and using regular (protected) vision makes it less useful in the stock form, but through modification this could be corrected. But hey, for $80 at Toys R Us, this is pretty good fun.

http://www.eyeclops.com/

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3932633/10691680