CTRL Rechargeable Eyewear

Reactive lenses and switchable glass have existed for quite a while, but not quite like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy97UdWIUkM

Taking the best characteristics of both, CTRL Eyewear can change automatically and instantly, and is already being trialled by Trek team racers such as Andy Schleck. There’s more information on CTRL Eyewear’s rather animation/video/image heavy website, and they’re currently running a second Indiegogo campaign for brave early adopters.

They only seem to be targeting roadies so far, but how long before it’s incorporated into the most enduro possible cyber-goggles? If it works half as well as it appears to, I could see it being useful. Personally, my usual approach to trails diving in and out of the woods is just to squint in the sunny bits and suffer less in the shaded, rooty parts, but plenty of people I ride with do the opposite.

CTRL say the glasses have a 70 hour battery life and charge from a micro-USB connector. What do you reckon? Useful application of new technology, or is having one more gadget to charge just a massive pain in the bum?

David Hayward

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

Comments (4)

andybradandybrad February 17, 2016 at 11:54 am

so you plunge into a bit of woodland in the summer and then you have to flick the switch on your glasses? whats wrong with photochromic?

dangeourbraindangeourbrain February 17, 2016 at 1:46 pm

Being as I’m unable to run the video at work I may be wrong Andybrad but it appears to have a light sensor for automatic switching with a manual override. As someone who uses photochromatic lenses for riding instant switching sounds good (though I’m not sure I’d notice as in use I rarely think ‘”damn would my lenses tint quicker”) I do however regularly find my self driving home with now clear sunglasses when I’d appreciate a tint as I’ve only got prescription photochromatic or non prescription permanent tint lenses with me.

nachnach February 17, 2016 at 2:38 pm

They can be set to automatically react to different light thresholds, so no need to hit any switch, and unlike photochromic lenses, they can change back and forth instantly.

MattMatt February 17, 2016 at 6:19 pm

Thumbs up from me. One of favourite rides had many fast open bits that you plunge into pitch black woods at speed. Instant switch would be ace.