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Sunglasses That Block All the Screens Around You (wired.com)
Scott Blew, an entrepreneur and engineer, recalled an article he'd recently read in WIRED about a new kind of film that blocked the light emitted from screens. He wondered if the same technology might work on a pair of glasses, to block the screens that seemed to be everywhere. From a report: He contacted Steelcase, the company that made the Casper screen-blocking film, and ordered a sample. Then he popped out the lenses in a pair of cheap sunglasses and replaced them with the film. Amazingly, it worked: Blew could look through the lenses and see everything -- except for screens, which turned black. Now, Blew and a small team are turning that concept into a real product. Their IRL Glasses, which launched on Kickstarter this week, block the wavelengths of light that comes from LED and LCD screens. Put them on and the TV in the sports bar seems to switch off; billboards blinking ahead seem to go blank. Within three days of launch, the project had surpassed its funding goal of $25,000.
10 years ago? Are we all that dumb to be told of a new use of an existing discovery as something amazing?
block the wavelengths of light that comes from LED and LCD
Has nothing to do with wavelength, but with polarization of the light. Anybody who has looked at screens with polarizing sunglasses is familiar with the effect.
Should be amusing the first time they get sued because of a car accident.
There are only so many way they can do this with a physical filter, and the article suggests that whatever Casper was doing, the replacement with simple polarising filters (which may be the same thing) functioned largely the same way. So, this is really not that exciting except as a cool application.
Polarising filters are pretty cool regardless.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
I never thought I'd see the day.
Eyelids. I have a pair of them, and they came with the body; they are a standard feature.
Mark this down as 'Most Uneducated Self-Promoter of the Month" .
Commmercial display manufacturers (e.g. LCD for gasoliine pumps, POS systems, etc.) are very careful to align the output polarization so that it will pass thru polarizing sunglasses, which in turn are carefully aligned to block the glare/scatter from solar irradiance. Try rotating a pair of sunglasses 90 degrees and you'll see how much brighter the thruput is.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
So someone's invented polarised sunglasses.
Doesn't work on OLEDs though.
It blocks those awful billiards? Where can I buy a roll?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
We already have precision GPS, head/face tracking technology, One more piece of the technology is now in place. It just needs to be scaled down into an implant.
Found the so-called 'social media' addict. What's the matter, can't make friends in real life? Try not being fat and insufferable.
Smart glasses that filter out all social media and give you a shock when you think about going on Twitter or Facebook, but kicks your pleasure center when you actually interact with (shocking!!!) real people in real social settings.
Granted the peril may be different than originally anticipated, but still a worthy development.
So you view interaction with more people as being more important than interaction in real life with fewer people?
See, I just interacted with you. But I don't know you and you don't know me. Either of us could die tomorrow and we'd never notice it since we're just one of the dozens of people we reply to, every day.
#DeleteFacebook
I already tried doing this, and the results were frightening. Aliens everywhere, and all the billboards said stuff like obey, consume, etc. I ended up chucking the sunglasses in the bin.
The right to ignore blaring crap is manifest. I thank their inventors and truly and sincerely hope they make millions for their creativity.
This invention is the bane of marketers everywhere, and I wish the inventors tremendous success. I will buy a pair as soon as they're on the market. Maybe two.
Seems like the kind of thing that would be a fad for a few months and then everyone laughs about how ridiculous and pointless it all was for years later. This has "as shown on TV" written all over it... the only problem is these glasses will block out that ad.
- Clap Off.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
All those screens oriented vertically won't get blocked. Not common for TV/news streaming, but very common for information and ad display.
As others have pointed out, these are likely polarized filters (not sure what orientation they use, but I expect its 90 degrees off from TVs). LCDs are polarized as well.
I am wondering what sort of unintended consequences wearing these glasses will have. I've noticed that some vehicle rear windows black out slightly when I am wearing my polarized sunglasses.
Both of you perfectly illustrate the necessity for in-person interaction. Neither of you would be brave enough to talk like that to someone in person, unless you are full-blown sociopaths.
you just need a pair of glasses of the same material, cut to be at a 45 degree angle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
Just like all those assholes with the wrap around polarized lenses they get from the eye doctor. /s
Quit telling me how to live my life, grandpa!
Seriously though, do get off on the next stop.
Please relinquish you engineering degree.
Sadly the Lemmings are following your entrepreneur hat.
Umm, any polarized pair of sunglesses do this. Granted it's a50/50 chance depending on if it's vertical or horizontal polarization. Wonder how this works on spherical polarization?
Looks like a car key; just don't let people see you point it at the TVs; they tend to get mad. But it's really useful in those places where obviously no on is watching the TV.
You can buy it pre-made or as a kit, or even make your own from some simple electronics.
https://www.tvbgone.com/
I highly doubt that this film is a polarizing film. Others have pointed out that they can still see some screens through their polarized sunglasses depending on the angle, so just filtering by polarization wouldn't work. Notch filters would work though. LEDs have a fairly narrow spectral peak, and it would be simple to develop a film that would filter out the three peaks associated with the specific wavelengths used in most LED and plasma screens. OLED, on the other hand, has wider peaks. Some of the light is filtered out, but the portions of the light that falls outside of the notch filter cutoff would still be visible.
I've just ordered a sample to test myself, as I work in an area where we try to keep certain information compartmentalized, and that has led to refusal to install safety mirrors in certain hazardous intersections, as they would briefly make several screens visible through the secured door. If this film works well and can be applied to a safety mirror, we may be able to cut down on spilled lunches and coffee burns.
OMG ....
These require ZERO R&D and will cost about $2 per unit to produce in China.
Seriously?
I think I found their commercial.
The kickstarter is asking $39 for a pair of these. I bought a pair of these 5 years ago for $2.99 by accident - I forgot my sunglasses and bought a cheap pair of polarized sunglasses from a Chinatown merchant - the polarization was in the wrong direction, so instead of blocking glare from roads and water, they made it worse... and they blacked out LCD's.
I threw them away after that day, and never realized what a goldmine I was sitting on.
Because let's be frank: The number one reason we want this, is for a real-life ad blocker.
Advertisement is just an euphemism for the crime of "deliberately manipulating the victim's mind via known triggers, to get him to hand over his money without getting his money's worth in return and without the victim even needing or being able to afford what (if any) he gets”.
It is, as always, justified by convenient victim-blaming, through the use of the delusion of free will and independent thought, even when the entire "industry" does nothing more than find and abuse all the ways in which humans can lose control in predictable ways, which prove the invalidity of the delusion.
As it is a form of deliberate assault on the victim's body (his neural structure to be exact) and wallet, even the attempt should result in a long prison sentence.
Any actually good product would not need advertisement. Just a good comparison tool to filter out and sort by what the client needs.
https://www.tvbgone.com/
I came here expecting an early comment to reference Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses.
I left disappointed....
"Just as there is nothing so unreal as reality TV, there is nothing as unsocial as social media." - Alistair Dabbs
Why would a person want this?
I want to watch sports.
My prescription sunglasses already do this -- it's quite annoying.
So you view interaction with more people as being more important than interaction in real life with fewer people?
Nope. I view the idea that we'd all just chat with strangers on the subway/bus/whatever if we didn't have devices is false. Because I was around when we didn't have those devices yet.
It's not stated in the article, but I infer they're looking at notch filters. A similar concept has been explored to help people with mild color-blindness (anomalous trichromacy). You could knock out most of the luminance range (yellow-ish) wavelengths with a not-too-narrow notch filter. Sunlit environments would be generally darkened and made maybe a bit bluer, but CFL or LED backlit screens (might need two filters as they don't necessarily overlap) would be darkened substantially.
I doubt the worn glasses concept will see much success given the diversity of display spectra out there, but as a coating for windowed conference rooms (given enforced constraints on displays used within) it's a neat idea.
I'd love to have something like this for dealing with oncoming cars with the super-bright headlights. I find myself putting on my sunglasses just so I'm not blinded by them. I figure it's better to see less light overall instead of nothing due to the glare. Something that could let me see everything else in normal light but would dim headlights in view would be superb.
-rant-
Why is that so many drivers not only drive with their lights but also with their fog lamps on? They are not going to make you see any better, but they sure do a better job of blinding oncoming drivers!
-/rant-
THE SOFTWARE, IT NO WORKY!!!
That is also true. In fact, people who talk to strangers on the subway/bus/whatever are usually weirdos.
#DeleteFacebook
There is nothing wrong with your eyes. Do not attempt to close them up. We are controlling what you see. If we wish to make it more annoying, we will put ads everywhere. If we wish to make it more subtle, we'll use product placement. We will control your spending habits. We will control your entertainment. We can reduce your bank account, make it smaller. We can change the focus of your interests to random things or sharpen it to precise products. For the next hour, browse quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your eyes. You are about to participate in a great marketing adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner warehouses to – The Web.
#DeleteFacebook
1. They're clueless. In some cases, before LED headlights became a thing, fog lights were used as Daytime Running Lights. The carmakers did't make them turn off when the headlights come on, because foglights with low-beam headlights are legal everywhere, whether or not it's foggy. This is fairly rare; the more typical pre-LED DRL arrangement was high beams running on reduced voltage. With LEDs, DRL serve all sorts of styling functions, and mostly seem intended to induce glare in other drivers' vision.
2. They're a**h***s. Yes there are some. You can tell - they drive with high beams on all the time, and if the aux lights are on at that time they're either owner-installed and incorrectly wired (fog lights are only supposed to be on with low beams), or they're driving lights (a different creature, brighter, and intended to be on only with high beams).
3. They're driving trucks, including SUVs. Those are all higher than normal cars, so you get full benefit of everything they're shining at you even if (as seems rare) they're properly aligned.
4. Fog lights do in fact let you see better under foggy conditions, or when you want more light close to the car. Also, many modern cars have quite poor headlights - they glare in other drivers' eyes, but don't put much useful light on the road despite being much brighter than ordinary halogen bulbs. See tests and ratings by IIHS and Consumer Reports.
5. Finally, the aux lights are misaligned. Probably very common for vehicles more than a year or so old. Fog lights are supposed to have a beam that's wide horizontally and narrow vertically, and is aimed to hit the road near the front of the vehicle; so when used with low beams they give better visibility in fog and rain without reflecting a lot of light back into the driver's eyes. Misaligned, they act more like driving lights but the wide horizontal spread increases the annoyance in town or otherwise at short range. Driving lights are brighter than fog lights, and are focused to a relatively narrow beam pointing straight ahead, and are intended to supplement high beams under very dark, empty, out-in-the-country conditions. Think school bus (fog lights) vs. rally car (brighter than the sun).
This will be amazing for people on the autism spectrum like me and my son. When a screen is moving in my field of view, I have to look at it. It takes a lot of concentration to "tune it out," so I dread going to bars. It also affects my hearing. My brain processes audio poorly if it is processing visual information, like a TV screen, so I am constantly having to ask people to repeat themselves. My brain is more single-threaded than a neurotypical person's. For people with more severe needs than mine, this can really impact your ability to socialize with friends. These glasses can really help someone on the spectrum have less anxiety in environments with a lot of screens.
Not to mention that this could be dangerous in some places. When I began to read I thought it was referring to blocking reflections on screens under the sun but I don't see the point of this.
Several months ago I, too saw this Casper film and though "what a great idea for sunglasses." I was already familiar with the similar effect that polarizing film would exhibit, both on sunglasses and with cameras, and so before ordering the film, scoured the websearches for references to "polarizing" and "casper film" and "steelcase" to be sure this wasn't the same thing. I found an article with a quote saying the film was not a simple polarizer, so I ordered some samples. Imagine my disappointment when the film arrived, I attached it to the glasses, and was treated to the exact same result as my existing polarized sunnies. When you hold your head at exactly the correct angle, some screens are indeed diminished — not blocked, but diminished by (I don't know, but) somewhere in the high-90's, percentage-wise. So this leaves us with two immediate things and a caveat: one, the screens aren't invisible, they're just super dim (the motion still catches your eye); two, you have to hold your head at an exact angle (a few degrees tilt and the effect is gone — in fact the samples pack includes the film at various angles separated by 45 to test for your application); and caveat, even then only some of the screens are blocked, because not all of the light coming out of every manufacturer's screen behaves the same way (wish I had a more technical explanation for this — if anyone does, I'd be into hearing it).
Ok, so the one article I found was wrong about it not being polarizing film. No harm no foul, I only spent a few bucks for samples. And to be fair, the company was marketing it for stationary applications, mainly geared toward privacy, for which it's likely a decent product.
But this reporting, it's just so bad. Anyone who has put these glasses on will immediately recognize that they're good for one thing and one thing only: hype. Actually two things: hype and discussion (you know, deeply zeitgeisty discussion like, "Did you read online about those glasses that block all the screens?"). It's an example that well illustrates a problem rampant in particular venues, one of which is located at the nexus of art and tech: There's just so much bullsh!t generated by people willing to ride the hype wave at the expense of reality and integrity, and so many of our contemporary venues facilitate this by providing a means to articulate symbolic pledges to people disguised as entrepreneurs (as thinkers, artists, etc.). In the end these guys have no intention of delivering a product, instead they're working within a framework where the goal is to claim success by "implicating the viewer" and "provoking discussion." The irony is, of course, that such provocation relies on the function of the structures they're supposedly working against.
So, indoor sunglasses?
Creator's name is "Ivan Cash". Yes, he wants cash. For a pair of polarized sunglasses.
I'm just speechless.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...
That is also true. In fact, people who talk to strangers on the subway/bus/whatever are usually weirdos.
In the United States that varies radically by geography. In Michigan, no one ever talks to strangers. In Illinois, everyone does. Most of the Midwest is willing to talk to strangers. The northeast, not so much.
block the wavelengths of light that comes from LED and LCD
No, it cannot block LED light and will not block LED screens. It might be able to block LCD screens by just being specially polarized lenses. But LED light is no different than most other light, and is of no particular frequency, unless it was polarized for some reason (like because it was used in an LCD screen).
The summary and/or article fell for the marketing crap. Until recently, all marketed "LED" screens are not LED, they are LCD screens with LED backlighting.
1) We never called LCD screens with florescent backlighting "florescent screens"
2) We never called LCD screens with electroluminescent backlighting "electroluminescent screens".
3) We never called LCD screens with incandescent backlighting "incandescent screens".
I already have Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses, could I get these new ones as clip-on lenses please?!
The maker's specifications do claim LED screens are blocked as well, but I suspect they mean ordinary LCD monitors with LED backlights:
Cloaking Technology Film renders wall-mounted and other large LED displays in conference rooms, huddle rooms, and other glass fronted rooms opaque when viewed from outside the room. Most large, wall-mounted displays can be cloaked, with the exception of 3D displays, Microsoft Surface Hubs, Barco video walls, OLED displays, plasma screens, direct-view LED video walls, and projection video.
Note that direct-view LEDs are not blocked. The same document also stresses the importance of film angle during installation, confirming that it's based on polarisation.
I had actually hoped it would be a more interesting notch filter blocking specific 640/570/480nm wavelengths, akin to the black projector screens you can get that reflect only those wavelengths (and absorb all the ambient light at other frequencies), but apparently not.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
The third one. Three shall be the translation of the reading and the translation of the reading shall be three. Fourth shalt thou not read, neither shalt thou read the second excepting that thou then proceedeth to the third. The fifth translation is right out.
in my model 3
Just turn the screen off! Much better right? https://www.tvbgone.com/
IRL They Live!
Not sure why you got modded down, dude. As the slogan goes, "Better Dead, than Red".
I won't hesitate to bash on the facetweets and socnets and an ego thirst industry. Admittedly, only when context appropriate, with wording and dosages tailored for maximum manipulation of the targets in question.
Doesn't everyone do that? Adapt to the blatant puppetstrings most simple people attach themselves to? Not maliciously, just to any harmless advantage in my own agendas.
Hmm, you might have a point about the sociopathy.
-- Different AC
Basically, the security model here is that you depend on the hackers and criminals to wear these glasses, thus preventing them from snooping on your screen.
It's called the "responsible hacker" security model, and the developer of this product has high hopes for it!