Eye-5
Eye-5 was a special kind of contact lenses that can be used to record the things it sees. According to Jack Harkness they come from a distant moon orbiting a distant star.
Overview
Functions
The lens, though they looked and functioned just like normal contact lenses, could transmit information wirelessly back to a computer network. A person at the other end could then communicate with them via a keyboard. However, the lens could not transmit sound. (TW: Reset) To get around this, the lens had lip-reading software, which worked best when the person in question faced the camera directly. The lip-reading software transcribed lip movements to speech after a short delay of a second or two. Information transmitted from the lens could get recorded like conventional video. According to Gwen Cooper, they were also apparently untraceable. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Three) Gwen claimed to Rex Matheson that they were isomorphic and would only work for her, but she was lying. (TW: Dead of Night) It could also be used to get past an iris scan. (TW: Escape to LA)
History of use
The lens were used by Martha Jones when infiltrating the Pharm. (TW: Reset) Later, after Rhys and Gwen and so Ianto borrowed them for some "fun", Lois Habiba used them to record secret negotiations between the British government and the 456. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Three) Downloaded onto a laptop, Rhys Williams then held onto the information so that he could, if Torchwood Three needed to do it, reveal the negotiations to the public. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Four) After the conclusion of the 456 crisis, Bridget Spears wore the lens to record Prime Minister Brian Green casually mentioning his complicity in the affair. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Five) Gwen Cooper used the contact lenses in 2011 to infiltrate PhiCorp. (TW: Dead of Night)
- The interface looked slightly different on each occasion.