Search the Community

Google Glass, Google schmass. What you really want on your face are these puppies. ION Glasses are sunglass or prescription glasses frames with a built-in LED, Bluetooth stack, and tiny button controller. What do they do? Well the LED lights up to notify you of new messages – you can set different people to different colors – and you can use the glasses to control the music on your phone, a presentation, or almost anything else controlled via Bluetooth. The astute observer will say “Why in the living blazes would I want an LED in my glasses? Are you daft, man?” And to this I would say “Non!” Understand me here – I’m not saying this product is for everyone, but I met the founder, Santiago Ambit, and he is so earnest and big-hearted that we have to assume that he thought this through. So here we are. Ambit’s system is fairly ingenious. He’s embedded a small piezo buzzer, LED, and Bluetooth stack inside the eyepieces of a standard pair of glasses. They are no heavier than regular Wayfarers and the logo glows on the side so people know you’re into the ION lifestyle. He is raising funds on Indiegogo and has raised $22,000 of his $150,000 goal. You get a pair of glasses — suitable for prescription or sunglass lenses — for a pledge of $89. They last a week on one charge. Again, why do you need these? Well, they’re extremely unobtrusive and they’re a great way to see when someone important is calling and to help your prioritize the times you need to pick up your phone. Because of their clever design no one will have to know you’re using them and, in turn, you can react to messages and notifications without panic or rudeness. Would I wear these? I’m not so sure, but if I were in security or needed to be in a lot of important meetings I could definitely see myself wanting to get small, discrete messages in the corner of my eye without the potentially off-putting nature of Google Glass. I rarely end posts with a question but I ask you, dear reader, would you wear these?