New Sunglasses Make PC, TV Screens Invisible

A new pair of sunglasses aims to block out screens such as TV sets and computers. It's a real product, though it's as much an art and culture project than a true business idea.

The glasses work in a similar fashion to polarized lenses in ordinary sunglasses, which block out the most intense reflected lights from the sun. With sunglasses the idea is to block any light that's reflected off a surface such as the ground or sea, thus reducing the overall brightness.

Glasses Turn Screens Black

With these special glasses, however, the lenses are flat rather than curved and are rotated 90 degrees. The effect is to completely block the light coming out of an LCD or LED screen (making it appear switched off) while still allowing other light through. It's based on an existing technology for putting film on office windows so that passers-by can't see what employees inside are doing on their computers. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

The glasses are the work of IRL ("In Real Life"), an art collective that aims to provoke debate over technology. It's previously worked on projects such as one that turned emails into handwritten lettering to make people think about the different attitudes to emails and traditional letters. (Source: fastcompany.com)

Phones Not Yet Covered

The initial batch of glasses will cost $79, with a discount for those who order early. They are described as a "beta edition" that blocks out most televisions and some computers, but not yet phones. The idea is to use the revenue from these to develop an improved edition that can block out phone screens and electronic billboards.

The latter feature would be particularly notable as the artists acknowledge the glasses are partly inspired by the 1988 movie "They Live," in which characters who donned special sunglasses were able to see subliminal advertising exposed. (They could also see which people were aliens rather than humans, though it's unlikely the new glasses will have such a feature).

What's Your Opinion?

Is this a worthwhile exercise or a pointless stunt? If you had such a pair of glasses and they really worked as billed, would you ever wear them? Can you think of any more useful ways to harness this technology?