The Real-Life Truman Show: Finland's 24/7 Webcam Man

Imagine broadcasting every single moment of your existence to the internet. No privacy, no off-camera moments, just pure, unfiltered life streaming 24 hours a day. That was the reality for Ari Kivikangas, a Finnish man who became an internet curiosity under the name "Cyberman."

Starting around 2010, Ari turned his apartment into a permanent broadcast studio. Epileptic and unable to work, he spent nearly a decade with a webcam trained on him at all times. Eating breakfast? Live. Sleeping? Live. Staring at his computer screen for hours? You guessed it—live.

Why Would Anyone Do This?

Ari's livestreaming journey began after he was stuck at home for three months with nothing to do. What started as boredom evolved into something more profound—a radical experiment in transparency and human connection. He claimed to be online 24/7, only going offline for rare trips to pick up epilepsy medication or the occasional hangout with friends.

Through his webcam at cyberman.tv, viewers worldwide could peek into his daily existence. No scripted content, no highlights reel—just raw, mundane reality. Some found it fascinating. Others found it deeply unsettling.

The Day His Webcam Saved His Life

In February 2014, Ari's constant surveillance proved literally lifesaving. He became seriously ill while alone in his apartment, unable to call for help. A viewer watching his stream noticed something was wrong and called an ambulance.

Medical personnel arrived to find Ari in critical condition and administered CPR. Without that anonymous internet stranger keeping watch, he might not have survived. It was a surreal validation of his bizarre lifestyle choice—his viewers weren't just passive observers, they were an emergency response network.

From Internet Oddity to Graphic Novel

Ari's life attracted the attention of Austrian artist Veronika Muchitsch, who watched his stream for over a year. She interacted with him through anonymous online conversations, eventually creating a graphic novel called "Cyberman" that documented his existence and explored themes of isolation, digital life, and human connection in the internet age.

Diagnosed with cancer that had spread to his nose and brain in June 2019, Ari was given just 5-7 months to live. He passed away on November 20, 2019, ending nearly a decade of non-stop broadcasting.

His life raises uncomfortable questions: Was this the ultimate expression of authenticity, or a symptom of profound loneliness? A glimpse into our digital future, or a cautionary tale? Either way, Cyberman remains one of the internet's most peculiar experiments in radical transparency—a real-life Truman Show that ran until the very end.