DIY Perks
5 HN recommenders · recommended in 7 months, 2020–2026
13:28 · 1.6M views · May 27, 2020
DIY Perks builds a webcam mod using a two-way mirror in a box so the camera sits behind the screen image. This allows real eye contact on video calls.
Whenever eye contact in video calls comes up, commenters point to this as the cheap homemade teleprompter-style solution.
11 comments from Hacker News
The 'DIY Perks' channel on YouTube has a nice solution to maintain eye contact: this video You can't mount a webcam in the middle of your laptop display, as even a small camera and thin cable would get in the way of looking at the screen. But using a two-way mirror, you can be looking at both the screen and the webcam at the same time, without the webcam being visible to you.
This video shows a project to create a one-way mirror that allows a person to view their monitor while 'looking at' the camera. this video If I was planning to do any interviews I would definitely build and use this. It also makes me wonder, when people are staring into the camera if they are looking at a photo instead of the camera lens.
There's a neat DIY project to try to overcome this: this video TL;DW - use some cardboard a two way mirror and an external webcam to make a box you place over your laptop so that it lines up the camera + your eyes.
I agree! I particularly liked the one using a two-way plastic mirror and webcam, so that you can maintain eye contact when you're video calling someone. Similar principal to a teleprompter. this video
I don't think I'll be trying this, but it's a really interesting DIY solution to ensuring eye contact when video conferencing. this video