The Animatic

Telescoping Barrel, Solid State Electronics

This early Cycloptical lens was designed to help Francis differentiate between wildlife found among the surroundings in which he grew up. With a focus on fauna, as designated by the illustrations on the base of the barrel, it could be adjusted to translate Francis' abstract view of the different features of animals. This was done as a lead-up to the goal of facial feature recognition among people.

The usefulness of this lens is naturally limited, but it provided an early step necessary to make the foreign feel familiar to Francis. It also allowed Bill to realize that Francis' vision "problem" went well beyond differentiating between similar objects. With this lens, Francis wouldn't even look at his surroundings because he was so distracted by how his own hands looked through it.

Lina Rae later adopted this lens to her 35mm camera as an ideal lens for taking "selfies" with Francis. The resulting photographs displayed the two of them with otherworldly animal-like features.