Here’s further continuation of my ongoing series of Terminator-related posts leading up to the release of Terminator Salvation this week. If there’s ever been an appropriate film series to post about something “tech,” it’s definitely the Terminator series. However, today I’m not posting about any technology shown in the movies, but rather the excellent use of the…

Lifelike Red Glowing Eyes on a Terminator Helmet Toy

When I first posted that toymaker Playmates would be releasing an endoskeleton helmet toy complete with voice-changer and glowing red eyes, I knew I had to have it. What I didn’t predict is just how fantastic of a job the company would do in creating the red eye effect.

Rather than taking the easy way out and simply mounting a couple of red LEDs in the skull/helmet where the endoskeleton eyes should go, Playmates created a very believable sunken-eye effect through an exceptionally well-executed use of the Pepper’s Ghost effect. This decades’ old effect is most commonly-known as the secret behind the ghostly ballroom dancers in Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction. It’s a simple illusion that reflects a light or lighted object on an angled piece of glass or other transparent material.

In the case of the Terminator Salvation T-600 Voice ‘N Vision Skull, as it’s officially known, the effect is used to make the iconic red Terminator eyes appear as if they are set deep within the skull. Here are a few pictures I took of my helmet to better illustrate how well it works:

Front and back side of the Terminator helmet/skull without the eyes turned on.

The view from inside the Terminator helmet, looking through the “goggles” that make up the eye sockets. They resemble swim goggles, but with an added angled transparent piece of plastic, which you can see overlapping eyes here.

Here are the same front and back views as above but with the eyes turned on. As you can see, from the front, the red eyes appear to sit directly in the middle of the sockets, just as they should. From inside, however, the hot spots aren’t visible while looking outward. Here’s a better view from inside the helmet:

The red LED lights are actually mounted above the eye sockets, pointing downward. Looking out while the eyes are turned on doesn’t result in a blocked view of any kind. A general red glow can be noticed, but it doesn’t restrict vision at all.

These side/angled views show how the eyes appear to be sunken into the head, making it seem like they’re actually sitting right on top of the wearer’s eyes. Staring directly into the helmet’s eyes is actually quite a creepy experience.

It’s a very impressive effect that I have never seen achieved as well in any other consumer product. Well done Playmates.

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