3 Futuristic Glasses You Should Watch (Through) For

3 Futuristic Glasses You Should Watch (Through) For

It doesn't take rose-coloured eyeglasses to view the world today as one going headlong into the future. Almost everything has transcended analogue.  

Glasses themselves will never be the same again. We are, as we speak, in a transitional period, leaving an era for that of postmodern spectacles and sunnies.

Just take a look through these three creations. They are ready to change the way we see the world. Literally!

LCD sunglasses

As always, the military-industrial complex gets first dibs on gizmos and gadgets that border on futuristic, if not extraterrestrial.

Case in point: The US Navy SEALs are already sporting LCD sunglasses, or as the Office of Naval Research liked to call them, Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear (FTPE).

As their name suggests, FTPE can change the tint of their lens, automatically and manually. Granted, some prescription eyewear can change lens colour, but FTPE does it far faster. In less than 0.5 seconds, FTPE can switch from clear to blue to amber to dark gray, depending on the environment's lighting conditions.

This bodes well for SEALs who must deal with sudden, extreme shifts in light, e.g. bright outdoors to completely dark rooms and vice-versa.

FTPE lens contain liquid crystal solutions and customised dyes, which reorient and thereby change tint each time an electric current from the battery passes through them.

At a full charge, FTPE can hold up for 55 hours. Unpowered, the lens clears up.

For years, soldiers have complained about lugging two kinds of eyewear: clear lens for ballistic shield and dark shades for ultraviolet protection. Soldiers do not have the luxury of switching them when they are in the line of fire.

FTPE are constructed as both glasses and goggles. Either way, they aren't sold at your friendly eyewear store for now. (Until then, you can make do with these fabulous rainbow glasses. Why change lens colours, when you can have all at once?)

Google Glass

No conversation that involves 'futuristic' and 'glasses' is complete without 'Google' being bandied around. The search engine giant has diversified so much beyond recognition that it now mints specs, albeit with lens mimic computer screens.

Rackspace executive Robert Scoble, one of 8,000 individuals picked by Google to test Glass, practically raved about the eyewear.

"I will never live a day of my life from now on without it (or a competitor)," he declared on his blog. "It's that significant."

Buzzfeed later published a picture of him wearing the specs in the bathroom. Yes, the specs can be wet!

Scoble reported that people who borrowed the glasses evinced "an emotional outburst of 'wow' or 'amazing' or 'that's crazy' or 'stunning.'"

With Google Glass, you can check social media (particularly Google+), shop online, book seats, and pretty much anything you do with a computer.

Google Glass acts on voice, and therein lies a hitch. The device may misinterpret accents, for instance. Also, there is the ever-present spectre of privacy issues.

A-Frame by Ron Arad

Both of the foregoing entail some kind of innovation to the lens. Designer Ron Arad's contribution to glass technology concerns the frame, something users tend to be more concerned with than the lens. After all, what good is eyewear if the frame does not fit your face?   

Arad has designed a range of glasses with an A-shaped, wire frame that can shrink and expand to accommodate any face shape. Specifically, these glasses contain sprung hinges that enable their bridge to contort to your nose. When the glasses are removed, the hinges on the sides automatically fold the arms back.

Like Google Glass, the A-Frame by Ron Arad can be a little quirky to look at. Then again, comfort always supersedes style. And as with all things quirky, they all go mainstream if enough people realise their functionalities.

Conclusion

These glasses are undoubtedly purposeful. A bit individualistic in the looks department, but functional.

They're also, as yet, very expensive. Google Glass currently sells for $1,500. The FTPE, on the other hand, is practically priceless in the hands of the military. And Ron Arad is, well, Ron Arad. But watch this space as these glasses become commoditised.

Guest post written by Jamie Cornnr who is an Australian freelance writer that writes about clothing design and about brands like www.highteawithmrswoo.com.au

Source : articlesbase.com