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Stranger Video: The Staring Game Where Blinking Loses [1]
['Mark Frauenfelder']
Date: 2023-11-17
How long can you stare at a stranger without blinking? That's the object of Stranger Video. When you visit the site and give it access to your webcam, you get paired with a stranger that you must stare at. The first person to blink loses.
I was nervous to try it, but I worked up the courage and clicked the button. It told me to close my eyes until I heard a chime, which I did. A three-second timer started and then I was looking at the cropped face of another person. Naturally, my eyes started burning and I had to fight the urge to keep them open. The other person had more fortitude, and beat me.
I played several more times, and started getting better at forcing myself not to blink. After a few rounds, I started winning about as often as I lost.
The creator of the game, eieio, said they were inspired by the awkwardness of acknowledging someone from a distance in a hallway and initially wanted to make a game about that experience. The idea evolved into "Stranger Video" after discussing eye tracking and the concept of staring at strangers. The creator intentionally avoided making it too game-like to preserve the experience of a fleeting connection with a stranger.
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[1] Url:
https://boingboing.net/2023/11/17/blink-and-you-lose-try-the-intense-stare-off-challenge-of-staring-at-strangers-online.html
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