State Optical takes aim at Warby Parker with Chicago-branded glasses made in the USA

A Chicago start-up wants to ride the trendy eye-wear movement — with luxury spectacles designed and assembled in the U.S.A.
                                           

State Optical, co-founded by Scott Shapiro, Jerry Wolowicz, Marc Franchi and Jason Stanley, launched in early 2016 to tap into what they saw as a growing demand for domestic products.

Smartly dressed with a pair of his own State frames in gray, Shapiro said the company set up in Chicago to tell an authentic brand story. The brand heavily promotes the city's iconography, and features the Chicago skyline on its presentation boxes.

Indeed, frame designs are all named after streets in Chicago, such as Armitage and Ravenswood. Each frame has 21 precision drilled holes set in the temples, a homage to Illinois being the 21st state of America.

While some of the materials are still sourced from overseas (Italian acetate and hinges from Germany), all the manufacturing is done in the U.S.

According to Shapiro, that created some difficulties: Many American craftsmen had not seen a frame being made before. "Fundamentally it's going to be more difficult and expensive to manufacture in the U.S.," said Shapiro. "The cost of labor is higher even now between the U.S. and China."

Still, Shapiro insisted domestic manufacturing gives State an advantage in the quality of its eyewear. By producing the frames in the U.S., Shapiro said, the company can spot quality or production issues and correct them early.

Snap fails to sell its overhyped ‘Spectacles’ video glasses

In news that surprises few people outside the company, Snap Inc. has been unable to sell its “Spectacles” video glasses, and it’s stuck with hundreds of thousands of unsold units, according to a report published Monday.
                                                   

The Information delivered the news, citing “two people close to the company” as saying that the company, formerly known as Snapchat, had “grossly overestimated demand,” and was sitting on “hundreds of thousands of unsold units sitting in warehouses, either fully assembled or in parts.”

Where the report gets interesting is that Snap itself claimed nearly three weeks ago that the product had “exceeded expectations” in selling 150,000 units. It said it was working on a second generation of Spectacles that could incorporate augmented reality technology.

Despite such apologists, such as a reviewer at USA Today — who actually said, “The video is sketchy, but so what?” — problems with the glasses emerged not long after they were launched. Along with being reportedly terrible in low light, the glasses were also said to fail at nearly every other aspect they were designed for, including smartphone syncing, battery life and video quality.

But perhaps the most important and often overlooked part of the product by tech reviewers was the most obvious one: Wearing them makes you look like … well, let’s just say that they’re the worst-looking thing you could put on your face since Google Glass.

The company went public in February on a reduced valuation, disclosing in its initial public offering prospectus that it may never be profitable. Squandering millions on ugly, dysfunctional video glasses liked by no one outside Los Angeles, if anywhere, appears to make that assertion look like more of a promise.

These concept smart glasses let you control your phone by scratching your nose

Using a phone or smartwatch when you’re supposed to be talking to someone has become an accepted rudeness in the 21st century. So, a group of researchers have a possible solution to this minor societal ill: prototype smart glasses that let you control a computer just by rubbing your nose. Yes, you can reject a call, pause a video, or skip a song, simply by scratching your schnoz.
                                               

They aren’t (sadly) available to buy right now, or we’d all be wandering the streets, pawing at our noses like coked-up advertising execs. The glasses were designed as an experiment by researchers from South Korea’s KAIST University, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and Georgia Tech in the US, to create a way to “control a wearable computer without calling attention to the user in public.”

The specs work thanks to a trio of electrooculography (or EOG) sensors embedded in the bridge and nosepads of the frame, which measure the electric potential of the surrounding flesh. These types of sensors are usually used to record eye activity for doctors, but have also found their way into the film industry as a method of re-creating realistic eye movements in CGI.

The system — delightfully dubbed ItchyNose — could be used to minimize social awkwardness when using wearable computers, says researcher Hui-Shyong Yeo. He has in mind the sort of device that might be worn directly in front of the eyes. Indeed, Google Glass had a similar-ish control system, using swipes down the side of the frame as an input.

How to look at the eclipse without damaging your eyes

This afternoon, millions of Americans will head outside to witness the total solar eclipse cutting across our country. Luckily, most people who have planned for this event have likely taken the necessary precautions by purchasing a pair of legitimate eclipse sunglasses. By doing so—and by wearing them properly—they’ve given themselves the best chance at avoiding a dangerous side effect to eclipse viewing: solar retinopathy.
                                               

           
This solar eclipse is pretty special, but that does not make it OK to look directly at the sun. No, not even this once. Never stare directly at the sun, even for the 2-3 minutes the moon is, for the most part, blocking it.

How is the sun so damaging? Well, we see images because photoreceptors, cells also known as rods and cones located at the back of the retina, convert the light into electrical impulses that the brain uses to determine the image we see. But when strong light, like the sun’s rays, hits our eyes, a series of chemical reactions occur that damage and often destroy these rods and cones. When this happens, which is known as solar retinopathy, our eyesight becomes blurry. Sometimes, if the damage is too great in one area, our vision can be completely impaired.

Along with your pupils shrinking, your eyes also have another defensive mechanism. When we look at something bright, we tend to blink our eyes, something known as the corneal or blink reflex. This also prevents us from staring at anything too damagingly bright. But during a solar eclipse, before it has reached totality, the moon is still partially blocking the sun. That means it’s blocking some of that intense light, and it’s a lot easier for us to look up at the sun without blinking. But that doesn’t mean you should. Even that tiny sliver of sunlight is too intense for our sensitive photoreceptors.
So if you do want to watch the eclipse with your own two eyes, wearing those special sunglasses is crucial as they block the sun’s rays enough, allowing you to see the eclipse and not burn your eyes out.

HOW TO NAIL THIS SEASONS LATEST SUNGLASSES TREND

Bigger is often seen as better, and the only way, when it comes to sunglasses but now a newer, smaller trend is turning heads on the streets and the runways  – and it is all too familiar. Cast your mind to the world of science-fiction and The Matrix, more specifically – Neo. His skinny-frame sunglasses are making a big splash in the fashion world.
                                               

The super-slim sunglasses were first spotted at Akris’ Spring/Summer show in 2016, and they soon became adored by street-style stars worldwide. Once Kendall Jenner was spotted donning Balenciaga’s take on Neo’s frames, it didn’t take long for other industry heads and celebs a like to start sporting the trend. How sun-smart they are is debatable, but slip, slop and slap with a hat and you can be flaunting the latest sunglasses trend.

Need some more inspo? Here’s our favourite pair and the well-known faces who make us adore the trend.

Sunglasses company District Vision has developed two new sunglasses styles specifically for athletes.

The two styles, Yukari Windshield and Nako Multisport, were put through a rigorous testing period that took into account different athletes’ eyewear requirements.

The result is two frames that will not only keep your eyes protected from things like wind, dust and UV rays, but will actually improve your training. The Windshield is designed with an extra-wide lens to enhance your peripheral vision, while the rounded top of the Nako Multisport extends the wearer’s upper field of view.

What’s more, they also look good. The sunglasses range from $199 to $219 and are available via District Vision’s store.

In other news, ASICS’s #IMoveLondon campaign reveals the secret to a healthy body and mind.