Staring: It's the great human pastime. There's nothing like a good long stare at a wall, or computer screen, or darkened window to really get the mind nice and empty. Well, emptier. It's the perfect way to sink into the vast nothingness that is forever lapping at the tiny shore of our miniscule existence. Just open your eyes and…stare.
But how many times have you been staring at something for hours and forgotten to blink? Hundreds? Thousands? How many times have you gone to the eye doctor complaining of chronic dry eye only to have the doctor say, "Are you looking at a screen all day long. Uh, maybe you should blink more"?
But who can remember to blink? It's just such a pain to perform that basic human function that requires little-to-no conscious thought. If only there were something that could blink for you. A robot you could insert into your eye that would pull down your eyelid whenever blinking was necessary, or something.
Well, technology isn't there yet, but a Japanese company is making eyeglasses that remind you to blink, you stupid, lazy dolt.
From The Telegraph (via The Awl)
The Wink Glasses, made by Japanese manufacturer Masunaga, are designed to avoid "dry eye", an ophthalmic condition that can affect video gamers or those who work on computers for long periods of time.
The glasses feature a clip-on device which monitors how frequently the wearer blinks. If the wearer goes for five seconds without blinking, the device causes one of the spectacle lenses to "mist up" by turning the ultra-thin liquid crystal sheet opaque.
This block's the user's sight in one eye, and encourages the blinking rate to return to normal, at which point the "mist" disappears, allowing the wearer to continue with their work.
Finally! Thanks, Japan. It was getting really hard to remember when to perform a basic human reflex. Now if only someone would invent a t-shirt that pokes you in the lungs when it's time to breathe, a scarf that buzzes when it's time to swallow, and a mattress that turns you every couple of days to prevent bedsores, we'll be all set to turn into giant, vaguely-human, mushy lumps of sloth!