Meet the CTRL XC sunglasses, heralded as “the world’s most advanced and fastest tint changing glasses for mountain biking, extreme sports, and leisure.” Promising to change tints within a tenth of a second, you should be able to use this single pair of sunglasses for multiple light conditions.
It’s all contingent upon a technology known as Tint-on-Demand, or e-Tint, which uses liquid crystals to change tints at a lightning-fast pace. In manual mode, users can change the tint of the lens by pressing a button, or for truly intuitive use cases, they can deploy automatic mode, in which an integrated sensor detects lighting conditions and changes the sunglasses’ tint independently. Automatic mode, the CTRL team says, makes it perfect for situations in which your hands and concentration are otherwise occupied.
While it’s not common to see e-Tint technology in everyday life (yet), the folks behind the innovation says that glasses using this tech is being developed for the U.S. Army “to be their next generation standard issue eyewear.”
And it looks like the general public can’t wait to get their hands on a pair of self-adjusting sunglasses either. With a full two weeks left in their Indiegogo campaign, the team has already raised over $95,000, blowing past their initial funding goal of $10,000. If you’re interested in owning a pair of these glasses yourself, the specs are all pretty impressive. The anti fog polycarbonate lenses are 2.1 mm thick, and you can choose between neutral and smoke for the lens color. The battery that powers the e-Tint technology has a charging time of an hour, but promises 70 hours of operation. And as for the frame, it’s made of high impact nylon TR90 and weighs in at just 45 grams, so you won’t be bogged down by your shades.
The current pre-order price stands at $165, though it’s unclear how long this early bird rate will last.
