If you’re a fan of Instagram and its ability to present you life through a filter, then these new Instaglasses might be just the thing for you.
The specs, designed by Markus Gerke of Berlin, allow the wearer to activate a camera next to the lenses using a button placed handily between the eyes. Further buttons on the side of the frame allow the user to flick between filters and watch the world change around them, as well as snap instaworthy moments without having to grab a phone and fire up the app. It was also indicated that the technology would be able to upload your photos straight to the web forsharing real time updates with your friends. It sounds like we’re straying into the realms of augmented-reality.
Rather than using the device to simply take and share photos, the glasses present the fairly tempting idea of keeping the filters running 24/7 to see the world like it was in the old movies – even though that might bring up some battery life issues.
That said, battery life issues aren’t really too much of a concern, as the glasses are currently nothing more than a concept design. Gerke says he has no desire for money and no intention of making them. He says that he ‘only wanted to show what it could look like.
Will we ever see Instaglasses?
While Gerke says that he has no plans for making his concept a reality, that doesn’t mean to say we’ll never see them. Instagram has proven itself to be a phenomenally popular app, and with the recent $1billion buyout by Facebook, it’s likely to be expanding more than ever.
Certainly, it seems that money is not a huge issue, and with the app’s dedicated following, it’s hard to believe that there wouldn’t be a market for the product. Google’s augmented-reality glasses are in full swing, and other giants, such as Apple, have recently patented their own similar designs. It seems that clever headgear is the order of the day.
With that in mind, I don’t think owning a pair is too far out of the question. Even if we don’t see a dedicated pair of Instaglasses, it might be more likely that the current big names in AR will put a filter option on their glasses to provide a similar sensation. It’ll be interesting to see if the idea has any impact in the real world or if it’ll forever be confined to the realms of indie hope.
==== About the Author ====
Rob likes to write about technology for Direct Sight – a leading supplier of cheap prescription glasses.
