American startup developed glasses-adblock

While Google, Apple and others are trying to add the effect of augmented reality in the usual glasses, one startup went the other way. He makes glasses, which, on the contrary, remove excess information from our field of vision.

The problem, according to its founders, is that every day more and more digital billboards appear on the streets of big cities, and this can be seriously annoying. There are more and more displays in the world that fight for our attention. The average American looks at the screens already for 11 hours every day. New points will allow to deal with this, and reduce the level of advertising informational garbage.

It all started with Scott Blue standing in line at a diner on wheels in Los Angeles. With a corner of his eye, he noticed Fox News TV, where he was once again told how Donald Trump outplayed everyone. All the while he was waiting for his opportunity to buy a hot dog, he was “forced” to watch this nonsense, because - unfortunately, this is how the human brain works. He remembers thinking, "damn, this is too much, I can not even calmly eat." You can decide to remove your phone, move away from the laptop, turn off the monitor, but now there are screens even on the street, and you cannot get away from them.

Scott was seriously upset that he could be poured into his brain without asking his permission. A young engineer and entrepreneur found a way to solve his problem when he read an article about a new Casper film capable of blocking the light coming from the screens. It was supposed to be used for glass conference rooms in offices - so that people could see everything that happens inside, but they could not take secret information from someone's laptop. Blue thought that the same technology, only in a smaller version, can be pasted on the glasses.

The guy phoned the manufacturer, the company Steelcase, and ordered a sample of the film from them. Then he squeezed the lenses out of cheap glasses, and put Casper in there. Surprisingly, it worked! Through glasses you could see everything except the screens, which were turning black.

Scott Blue showed his “invention” to Ivan Cash, and he instantly agreed to become his partner. Cash has been involved in projects that “bring people back to reality” for several years. Prior to that, he led the development of a system that turns e-mails into handwritten letters, and made an art installation, during which people painted portraits of strangers using their Facebook photos. New glasses seemed to him a great opportunity to develop the same idea.

Together, the guys began to turn the "screen goggles" from concept into reality. It quickly turned out that sticking a Casper film to a lens was not the best option. It is much cheaper to just take ordinary polarized lenses, just flatten them and turn them 90 degrees. The effect is almost the same: the lenses completely block the light coming from the LCD and LED screens.

As a result, Ivan Cash and Scott Blue founded the company IRL Labs and released special glasses IRL, acting as a filter against universal advertising and helping people to relax from the screens. Nothing magical, just polarization.

These glasses have drawbacks. First, of course, everything around becomes slightly darker - after all, these are sunglasses, only slightly modified. Secondly, horizontally polarized filters cut off only vertically polarized light. Lenses well block the radiation from the LCD-and LED-screens, but can not cope with OLED-displays. Most TVs, laptops and computer monitors are hidden from view, while images from the screens of the latest mobile phones, such as the iPhone X, pass through filters without interference. The developers believe that this is enough: users with glasses will see less “extra information” in terms of outdoor advertising and third-party screens. And smartphones, thank God, are not on the streets anywhere, and it will be more convenient to check your messages without removing your glasses.

Ivan Cash and Scott Blue are also pleased that they turned out to be ordinary glasses, not smart glasses, and they do not use any electronics (otherwise it would be a little contrary to the essence of the project). The lenses are coated with TAC 1.1, Cat 3, UV 400. They not only block the screens, but also protect against ultraviolet radiation, like ordinary polarized sunglasses.

The design is taken from the cult film of 1988 " Aliens among us ." In the film, a pair of magic sunglasses found by the protagonist shows that all the billboards around are full of suggestion slogans: “Obey,” “Consume,” “Marry and multiply,” “No independent thoughts,” “Sleep,” “Watch TV "And the money says" This is your God. " There it was a messy thing for aliens, but Cash said that the metaphor is perfect - it’s enough to replace aliens trying to control humanity with government and global corporations.

Cnet and dozens of other websites wrote about the project about gadgets, so on Kickstarter, the creators for a couple of days have already collected $ 70,000 (instead of a target of $ 25,000). Kickstarter points cost $ 49, they say that the retail price after launch will be $ 79.

The project has enough critics. Blue and Cash say that they regularly receive emails that, in fact, people have the opportunity to turn off the TV or, you know, close their eyes, and for this you do not need a special gadget. Guys say that such feedback is very useful and important for them. In the end, their new glasses are just one more reason to discuss how much time a person should spend in front of screens.

And how do you think nonsense or cool?

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