Years ago, I worked on a project that involve capturing images filmed with an ophthalmoscope and mosaicing them into a complete image of the back of the eye. Part of that involved finding out how bright a light we could get away with beaming into peoples eyeballs. I don't remember specifics, other than being surprised at how much you could get away with.

A quick search showed that there are standards that cover this and include infrared light (see http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DeviceRegulationandGuidanc... for more information).

2 things I would love to know:

Are there other commercially available cameras that already do this out 'in the wild' (ie am I already hit with these daily, I just don't know it)?

What are the health implications of it (if any)?

Security cameras use IR illuminating LEDs. At the lab where I work we have video eye-tracking hardware that uses a 4x6 array of IR LEDs to illuminate the subject's eyes.

I don't think it's a problem unless you get into significant intensities, as per a >1 mW laser.

Maybe 3D glasses will take off as a fashion accessory when these little boxes start popping up all over the place and we experience mass vision impairment

I doubt it's anywhere near as intense as, say, a 30" LCD's backlight, let alone stage lighting, or daylight. It's not a laser pointer, it's just IR.