Glasses Get High-Tech Part 1

Part 1 of 3

For the last few hundred years glasses have been used as a tool used to help people to see better. They were purely a vision aid and even just a few decades back, those high prescription, jam-jar lenses certainly made you the victim of playground bullies. With the emergence of celebrity glasses wearers the social stigma has faded, with people even wearing them as non vision correction, fashion-frames. It's now 2013 and with technological advancements, researchers have been working with our beloved frames to kick them into the next century. In this feature we look at the tech advancements that are being applied to glasses and how they will make you sleep better, hear better and even feel happier.

Happy Specs

Recent research shows that altering the type of light coming into your eyes can have an effect on other parts of the body. So someone had the bright idea of creating a pair of frames that look like a pair of glasses crossed with a sun visor that contain eight lights inside that bathe your eyes in 'white light'. The white light in turn is meant to reduce seasonal affective disorder also known as SAD, a disorder which causes depression in those that lack sunlight in the winter. Researchers put this down to the white lights increasing the 'feel good' chemicals in the brain. Although you won't be seeing anyone walking around the mall in them anytime soon, luckily they only require a 25 minutes a day to feel their full effect. Finally a pair of glasses that make you happy!

Jet Lag Reduction

Researchers have shown that green light is the most effective at delaying or advancing the body clock. Hence why the researcher involved came up with frames called re-timers. On the expensive side at over $200, these nifty little specs have a green light that shines into the eye. They are supposed to be worn for 50 minutes a day, three days after flying. Apparently they could even be used for night shift workers and lazy teenagers, yeah good luck on that one!

Nightshift Extenders

For those of you lucky enough to have done a nightshift, you will also know the effects it can have on your body. Research has shown that knocking your body clock off sync and working when you should be sleeping can lead to health problems like heart disease, weight gain, depression and even cancer. These health effects are thought to be linked to the levels of melatonin, a key hormone in regulating the body clock. The production of melatonin increases once it's dark, but exposure to bright lights can delay this process. So someone invented lenses that could block specific wave lengths in order to normalize melatonin production. I know what you are thinking, lot's of night workers falling asleep on the shift. But it regulated melatonin levels whilst not effected a workers alertness or performance on the job.