Using the same technology that is used to produce flexible screens, the eyewear manufacturer Revisional has developed a semi-opaque, or semi-transparent, glass that is capable of altering the appearance of the world as you see it. Employing the same kind of image editing software that is used by such applications as photoshop, whatever you are looking at can, the makers claim, be altered to suit your particular taste. It apparently works by an image sampler in the lens responding to the incoming light source and modifying it according to a range of preset preferences.
"Of course, the world you see remains substantially the same," explained Findlay McConnell, Revisional's head of marketing at yesterdays pre-launch publicity event, "but the look of it can be changed in almost any way. Our lenses can soften or brighten the light, they can improve the appearance of all the people around you, or worsen their appearance if that makes you feel better, maybe shorten everyone a few inches. They can even change the architecture of any building you happen to be walking past, tidy up the streets, empty the beach you're sitting on, make the food you're eating look more palatable. It'll be up to you to choose how the world you live in looks. We've not yet finished the approval process but we believe these lenses could even be worn whilst driving."
Some observers see a new vogue in the development of this kind of 'sensory recalibration' wear and point to other recent product launches such as a number of nasal filters that have come to market and which promise to provide a better scented environment.