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.

Comments

Wavelength

[religionofpeas]

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.

Re:Wavelength

[Spamalope]

Exactly. They've discovered polarized sunglasses! Genius!

Color is how we distinguish light frequency. That's what color is!

I think they're ready for a kickstarter! Who could you trust more!?! Maybe they could add something about solar roadway glasses so we know they're 100% legit and know what they're talking about.

Re:Wavelength

[taustin]

I have prescription polarized sunglasses (damned good ones, too). No, it doesn't work this way. Yeah, half the screens will go dark, being polarized one way. The other half will be largely unaffected. Which half depends on which way the glasses are polarized. The effect also varies with the angle at which you're viewing the screen. I regularly see screens dim, then brighten back up, as I walk by.

The only way to do this with polarization would be have two layers, at 90 degree angles. Which would render you completely blind, as no light of any kind would get through.

Re:Wavelength

[Moof123]

+1. Most screens are polarized the same way to mostly get along with polarized sunglasses, but there is still a good 10-15% of screens that are in portrait orientation. Higher end smartphones clearly have had effort into making them work with polarized glasses. most iphones have funny tints to the colors as you rotate them, but are always readable. My mid-range Moto X4 however disappears when in portrait mode, which sucks for taking pictures on a sunny day (when will manufacturers just put in a square sensor and let me choose the format before or after taking a picture?!?!).

Re:Wavelength

[GrumpySteen]

They've discovered polarized sunglasses! Genius!

Nah. They've discovered a way to sucker hundreds of people out of $40 or more for a pair of cheap sunglasses and get free advertising that will probably get even more idiots to jump on the bandwagon before the kickstarter campaign is over.

Re:Wavelength

[powerlord]

Considering the Team page ends with:

"In Memory of Levi Felix, Co-Founder of Digital Detox and Camp Grounded, whose passion and prankster spirit continually inspires us"

and that the people leading the project are "Scott Blew" and "Ivan Cash" (so they're even telling you that you "Blew Cash" on the product) I would lean more towards this being a mild scam or an Andy Kaufman style hoax.

Re:And what about LED traffic lights?

[religionofpeas]

LED lights aren't polarized, so the glasses have no effect on them.

Cherry on the cake

[Luckyo]

Creator's name is "Ivan Cash". Yes, he wants cash. For a pair of polarized sunglasses.

I'm just speechless.