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Sunglasses That Block All the Screens Around You (wired.com)

Posted by msmash on from the pushing-the-limits dept.

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.

3 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Wavelength by religionofpeas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Wavelength by taustin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

  2. Re:And what about LED traffic lights? by religionofpeas · · Score: 5, Insightful

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