# I Gazed Lovingly Into Strangers’ Eyes on ‘Eyechat’

Source: https://www.404media.co/eyechat-video-chatting-with-strangers
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/I-Gazed-Lovingly-Into-Strangers-Eyes-on-Eyechat?index=0x66bb6ef8575e60199430507b0536a93a0571129a6600eeaad06379ae4566922dac6ec68a
Submitted by misha on 2024-08-13 UTC, 1 upvote, 0 comments

## Summary

Developer Neal Agarwal created Eyechat, a live video site that pairs users' eyes with those of strangers from around the world, after the shutdown of Omegle led him to mourn the whimsy of the old internet. Agarwal said he wondered what the minimum amount of video contact would still feel meaningful, and that an eyes-only service seemed a good fit for minimizing abuse while keeping some human connection. Users see a thin bar of video showing another person's eyes gazing back from an undisclosed location.

## Article

I’ve been staring into the eyes of strangers from around the world: squinting and squinching, raising my eyebrows, opening them wide in mock shock then smizing. A thin bar of video feed shows another person’s peepers, gazing back at mine from an undisclosed location.

When developer Neal Agarwal saw the demise of video chatting site Omegle last year, he mourned the whimsy of the old internet, and created Eyechat, a live video pairing site that matches your eyes with another’s from somewhere around the world.

— Neal Agarwal (@nealagarwal) July 30, 2024

“I’ve always loved experimenting with ways of connecting strangers on the internet in ways that might feel a little awkward,” Agarwal told me. “When Omegle shut down, I started to wonder what the minimum amount of video contact was that would still feel meaningful. An eyes only chat service felt like a good fit for minimizing abuse but also keeping some human connection.”

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