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SALT LAKE CITY — Whether you want life to be a bit more like Instagram or a bit less focused on it, wearable tech is the hottest new trend.
With clothes that render your phone useless and a pair of sunglasses that make the world look like it's been Instagram filtered, inventors are finding ways to make sure we get the benefits of a gadgetless existence.
Giving new meaning to the term “rose-colored glasses,” Tens is a pair of sunglasses that gently filters your view.
“What if there’s a way we could skip all the cameras and apps?” the promotional video asks. “What if there’s a way we can filter everything we see while being disconnected from technology?”
The creators have raised 1,719 percent of the goal on their Indiegogo campaign. The glasses have been carefully constructed to give everything a sunshiney glow.
The site explains that sunglasses tend to block out the light with cold colors — but the Tens pair works with the “warmth of the sun to lend an uplifting tint to the world beyond the lens.”
“But there’s also something intellectually troubling about the idea that the literal way we see the world could be ‘improved,’ ” Caitlin Dewey wrote at the Washington Post. “Like we love our screens so much, we want to see through them. Or like we love the idealized, filtered world on our screens so much, reality doesn’t quite suffice.”
The fancy lenses block 100 percent of ultraviolet rays, and at $60 a pair are hitting a trendy sweet spot for filter lovers. Using the hashtag “real life photo filter,” the Scotland-based campaign has found its niche market.
For those who are still a little too addicted to phones, there is the option of sticking it in a pocket that makes it not much more than a paper (or pocket) weight. Focus Life Gear is a clothing line designed by Kunihiko Morinaga that has special signal-blocking fabric in its roomy pockets.
“We love technology and always being connected,” the site says. “But sometimes our devices take up too much of our time and attention. Often they distract us from the things we really want to focus on like pursuing our goals, enjoying a moment with friends, appreciating the world around us.”
In case you aren’t convinced of an addiction, the site has a handy widget that will let users know how much one uses social media by connecting with their Facebook accounts. Now these “addicts” don’t have to have an ounce of willpower — they just slip their devices in the futuristic clothing, and it does the rest.
The line is on display in Toronto, and is not yet for sale.
