They Live IRL, Almost: Smartglasses That Block Out Screens #WearableWednesday
This isn’t quite the They Live sunglasses, but it’s a good start — via Wearable Technology
These days it seems like screens are all around you – from TVs and laptops to buses and even refrigerators, your eyes are getting hit by screens all day long – bringing you a deluge of information without you even asking for them. So, is there a way to escape these ubiquitous screens? Well, there is. A new startup has developed a pair of sunglasses called IRL Glasses, which when you wear them, blocks the screen around you by making the screen appear black.
“We’re seeing such a shift in our habits as humans, and I think it’s really worth taking a step back and not just unthinkingly embracing the digital world, but questioning it,” says artist Ivan Cash, who is developing the glasses with a new global collective called IRL.
An average American spends majority of their time while awake, staring at screens. They spend 4 hours staring at their smartwatch screens, and hours more watching TV, using computers, and playing video games. In the process they watch hundreds of ads each day.
To block light from LCD and OLED displays found in TVs, the glasses use horizontal polarizers. They can also be worn as sunglasses to block UV light.