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]
Two-way mirror webcam mod for eye contact in video calls
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.
Cardboard box with two-way mirror lines camera up with your eyes
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.
Two-way mirror lets you see the screen and camera together
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.
Mirror project letting you look at the monitor while facing the camera
Yes, there's multiple ways of doing it. DIY-Perks has a webcam mod[0] using 2-way mirror. The other way is using a microLED display. A microLED is so compact/bright that you can leave spaces between elements and can be 50% transparent or more looking from behind. Alternatively Optical/sensor elements could be interspersed with the microLED elements giving as good an image quality as can be achieved based on the area used. [0] [this video]
Two-way mirror webcam mod aligning camera with screen
It really isn't a minor point. Lack of eye contact is really important. I pulled out a gooseneck webcam mount I had bought and never used from years ago. I can position it almost right in front of the Zoom window and achieve almost direct eye contact, though it is tricky if I need to see detail behind the webcam itself. Multiple monitors with extra area reduce that problem. I ran across a video that showed how to create an actual direct eye to eye contact effect, using a half-silvered mirror and parts from a laptop webcam[0]. I started shopping for a used laptop webcam part, and then realized I have never seen laptops rated by their webcams, so it is almost a shot in the dark to get something good. [0] [this video]
Half-silvered mirror setup for direct eye contact on video calls
There are devices you can buy for a few hundred that place the image of the person you're talking to directly in front of the camera. That way you can look at who you're talking to while also looking directly into the camera. [link] There are also a lot of homebrew DIY versions of the same device: [this video]
Homebrew version of eye contact teleprompter device
The Youtube channel DIY Perks has a video making essentially a homemade teleprompter mod for a laptop with very cheap materials.[1] I've thought about getting a proper teleprompter but my issue there would be screen space and lighting. Has this worked well with a decently inexpensive webcam or do you use a full-on streaming/production type camera setup? [1]: [this video]
Homemade laptop teleprompter mod from cheap materials
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