New Atlas

Wearables Audio available

Bose eyes the smart glasses scene with headphone and AR-equipped Frames

Nick Lavars December 5, 2018

With an array of tiny speakers and a microphone built into the arms, Bose hopes its Frames sunglasses will begin life as a personal audio device, but soon start augmenting realities by layering useful snippets of sound over what the wearer sees in front of them.

Bose Frames sunglasses place the focus entirely on using sound to deliver an AR experience

Good Thinking Audio available

Real life ad-blockers: IRL Glasses black out computer and TV screens

Rich Haridy October 3, 2018

In a world bombarded by screens constantly blasting ads and visual noise, a team of artists and designers wondered if glasses could be created that can black out all those invasive messages. After a year of research and prototyping the IRL Glasses are now launching on Kickstarter.

Most LCD and LED televisions will be blacked out but not all computers

Health & Wellbeing

Self-tinting contact lenses are on their way

Ben Coxworth April 11, 2018

Over the years, we've gotten pretty used to glasses with photochromic lenses, which automatically darken when exposed to bright light. This Wednesday, however, Johnson & Johnson Vision announced the upcoming availability of its self-tinting contact lenses.

Acuvue Oasys With Transitions contacts are due for release in 2019

Bicycles

Speedcraft AIR cycling glasses use magnets to open your nose

Ben Coxworth April 11, 2018

Some serious cyclists have taken to using breathing strips or even stents to hold their nostrils open, in order to increase the amount of air that they're able to take in through their nose. Well, a new set of cycling glasses does the same thing, but using magnets.

UCI Road World Champion Peter Sagan has been racing with the glasses

Science

Electric sunglasses have solar cells for lenses

Ben Coxworth August 2, 2017

If you're using the sun to power a mobile device, it only makes sense to put the solar cells on something you're wearing that will be receiving a lot of sunlight. With that in mind, researchers have created a pair of sunglasses that generate electricity via solar cells that double as their lenses.

The lenses power a microprocessor, two sensors and two displays

Wearables

Intel and Oakley pack a fitness tracker and AI coach into a pair of shades

Michael Irving October 3, 2016

Intel and Luxottica have teamed up to put a fitness tracker front and center on your face, stashing the various biometric sensors and a voice-activated AI coach into a stylish, custom-designed pair of Oakley shades.

The Oakley Radar Pace is a pair of shades with a built-in fitness tracker and AI ...

Bicycles Review

Review: Uvex Variotronic cycling glasses change tint with the press of a button – or on their own

Ben Coxworth September 23, 2015

If you're bursting in and out of shadowy forests, the slow reaction time of photochromic glasses just can't keep up. That's where Uvex's Variotronic glasses come in, which change tint in just a tenth of a second. We recently tried a pair out.

Gizmag tries out Uvex's e-Tint-totin' Variotronic cycling glasses

Wearables

Skugga sunglasses tint on command or automatically

Ben Coxworth July 7, 2015

In less than a year, electrochromic sunglasses have gone from being experimental to an actual product, with Ctrl announcing its Ctrl One cycling glasses just this month. Should you prefer multi-use electronically-tinting sunglasses, however, you might want to get yourself a pair of Skugga shades.

The tint level of Skugga sunglasses can be set by the user, and will automatically activate ...

Good Thinking

Mosevic's sunglasses feature Solid Denim frames

Ben Coxworth May 5, 2015

Some hobbyists might already be familiar with micarta, a solid material made from layers of denim that have been bonded together with resin. UK startup Mosevic is using a micarta-like substance to make blue jeany-looking sunglasses.

Solid Denim sunglasses are made from resin-bonded layers of denim

Outdoors

Sealz sunglasses become sealed goggles with the push of a button

Dave LeClair March 16, 2015

Sealz is a new pair of sunglasses that can also become a pair of goggles with a button press, allowing them to be used for both UV protection and clear underwater vision. They additionally feature full UVA/UVB protection, impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses, and polarization to reduce glare.

A potential final design for the Sealz sunglasses/goggles