Iris Accessory Makes Seeing Eye-to-Eye Possible on Web Chats

Iris has a really expensive solution to a very nominal problem. If that sounds like something you could get into, read on. Since it probably doesn’t, read on anyway.

The Iris is a camera reflection system that allows you to look directly at your camera/screen while talking to someone on webcam. This way, instead of staring at your eye lids, the person on the other end will be staring directly into your eyes. Depending on the types of interaction you have on webcams, you may be looking every where but the person’s eyes, but now you can hold a more realistic face-to-face conversation if that’s what you dig.

Here’s Iris explaining the significance of its product: “IRIS is a qualitative and cheap alternative to video conferencing and improves mutual communication in web conferencing programs such as Webex and Netviewer or in video chat programs such as Skype and Vidyo to an important degree. They all work with a webcam. And every webcam user recognises the same problem: you never look straight at each other. It may seem to be only a detail but this detail is of considerable importance for the authenticity of online contact. Regular eye contact gives the feeling of being allied to the person you are talking to. That evokes trust and prevents misunderstandings.”

Sounds like a solid improvement, but prepare to buck up some bank. The Iris system costs a whopping 1,845 Euros. That’s close to $2,500 of your hard-earned American dollars. Or probably triple what you paid for a laptop with a built-in webcam that provides good-enough video chats. Cheap alternative? We think not. [Iris2Iris via Red Ferret]