Scrolling through TikTok I came across one IrateFrenchFry—the capitalisation is important, they don't rate french fries, though to be fair they're not a french fry either. They're a Twitch streamer of the same name with a degree in mechanical engineering. The reason I stopped on his channel was because I watched as he tried desperately to play Rainbow Six: Siege with a visor falling in front of his eyes, seemingly at random, and completely ruining his game.
@iratefrenchfry ♬ Sad violin ballad - Inumori
It's not at random, though. It's controlled by their Twitch chat—his seemingly maniacal Twitch chat. Every time IrateFrenchFry is trying to be a good teammate on the objective or in a tense stand-off with enemy players, down comes a visor that blinds him.
If you're wondering how it works, here's what IrateFrenchFry told me:
- Terrifying horror nopefest Phasmophobia combined with immersive room lighting looks like an easy way to give yourself a chronic case of the brown trousers
- Viewers watch in horror, unable to help, as blindfolded Super Mario 64 speedrunner almost gets a world record that wouldn't have counted: 'I would've cried'
"I programmed a microcontroller board that monitors my chat and looks for certain words. If it sees one of those words it activates whatever function I want.
"For example, one of my scripts monitors the chat for '!blind', if it reads that word then it activates a servo on my headset that lowers blinders."
The gaming headset is nothing special: just your run-of-the-mill Logitech G733, with the obvious exception of the servo powered gizmo on the right ear-cup.
"Mechanically the glasses work through a linear actuator that I 3D printed. The blinder (just glasses that I bought and painted) is attached to that linear actuator to allow them to raise and lower."
IrateFrenchFry limits how often the activation words can be said by having it so only his own account can say them in the chat. That means it's not just a dreadful free-for-all. Any more so than intended, anyways. You might be wondering if that means he's just having us on and they're pressing the button for the visor to drop, but no, it's still the Twitch chat, but they have to earn channel points the ol' fashioned way to activate it.
What's better than making your favourite Twitch streamer do a dab (or whatever it is people use channel points for these days), or blinding them temporarily during an intense moment in a competitive game?
An IRL jumpscare.
@iratefrenchfry ♬ original sound - IrateFrenchfry
Using their mechanical know-how, IrateFrenchFry also rigged together a system that flashes the lights, unleashes a scary puppet in front of them, and plays a blood-curdling scream.
Combined with a horror game and the visor, it's a pretty overwhelming amount of stuff going on at any one time, both in real-life and the game—for me, anyways. IrateFrench used to be in helicopter search and rescue in the United States Coast Guard, so he might be used to loud noises and tough working conditions.
You can check out more of their clips on their Twitch channel or TikTok.
