How do intelligent items actually see/hear/speak?

[eyebreaker7]

Every intelligent weapon has the ability to see. Does it actually have eyes? How does the items "sight" work?

01-34 Two at 12, one at 10 Empathy1 One lesser power 30 ft. vision and hearing +1,000 gp
35-59 Two at 13, one at 10 Empathy1 Two lesser powers 60 ft. vision and hearing +2,000 gp
60-79 Two at 14, one at 10 Speech2 Two lesser powers 120 ft. vision and hearing +4,000 gp
80-91 Two at 15, one at 10 Speech2 Three lesser powers 60 ft. darkvision and hearing +5,000 gp
92-97 Two at 16, one at 10 Speech2, 3 Three lesser powers 60 ft. darkvision and hearing +6,000 gp
98 Two at 17, one at 10 Speech, telepathy3, 4 Three lesser powers and one greater power6 120 ft. darkvision and hearing +9,000 gp
99 Two at 18, one at 10 Speech, telepathy4, 5 Three lesser powers and two greater powers6 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing +12,000 gp
100 Two at 19, one at 10 Speech, telepathy4, 5 Four lesser powers and three greater powers6 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing +15,000 gp

They can talk too some of them. Do they have mouths? and hearing, do they have some sort of ears?
Heck some of them see better than most creatures.

[Gavinfoxx]

They just can / it's magic / a wizard did it.

[False God]

They just can / it's magic / a wizard did it.

THIS.

The alternative is this:
https://i2.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/RogerRabbit05-740x401.jpg?fit=740%2C%209999&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C401px

[Biggus]

There are quite a few creatures which can see, hear and sometimes speak without appearing to have the appropriate organs. It's not generally explained how they do it either. I guess it comes under the same heading of how a 200-ton dragon manages to fly, or how creatures of different classes manage to breed with each other.

[Jack_Simth]

Every intelligent weapon has the ability to see. Does it actually have eyes? How does the items "sight" work?

01-34 Two at 12, one at 10 Empathy1 One lesser power 30 ft. vision and hearing +1,000 gp
35-59 Two at 13, one at 10 Empathy1 Two lesser powers 60 ft. vision and hearing +2,000 gp
60-79 Two at 14, one at 10 Speech2 Two lesser powers 120 ft. vision and hearing +4,000 gp
80-91 Two at 15, one at 10 Speech2 Three lesser powers 60 ft. darkvision and hearing +5,000 gp
92-97 Two at 16, one at 10 Speech2, 3 Three lesser powers 60 ft. darkvision and hearing +6,000 gp
98 Two at 17, one at 10 Speech, telepathy3, 4 Three lesser powers and one greater power6 120 ft. darkvision and hearing +9,000 gp
99 Two at 18, one at 10 Speech, telepathy4, 5 Three lesser powers and two greater powers6 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing +12,000 gp
100 Two at 19, one at 10 Speech, telepathy4, 5 Four lesser powers and three greater powers6 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing +15,000 gp

They can talk too some of them. Do they have mouths? and hearing, do they have some sort of ears?
Heck some of them see better than most creatures.

However the creator cares to make it work (usually the DM, sometimes a player). Consider the speakers, microphone, and selfie camera on your cell phone: They're just a few tiny little dots. It doesn't actually take much to give something sight, hearing, and speech with modern technology. When you mix in the possibilities from spells like Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clairaudienceClairvoyance.htm) and Ventriloquism (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/ventriloquism.htm), it's not much of a stretch to say "Magic" and leave it at that.

Huh. Arcane Eye is subject to Persistent Spell. As is Eye of Power, by inheritance. That could be useful some time.

[Blackhawk748]

Ya, they just talk and see cuz it says they do. It's all magical shenanigans

[Kelb_Panthera]

Given the range limit, I've always imagined it as a kind of magic radar kind of deal. The magic of the item interacts with the ambient magic to pick up audio-visual information that fleshies do with their organs. More magic, longer range and more info (darkvision).