In a time when it seems like the privacy we all enjoyed was just a smokescreen, it’s nice to know there’s at least one way to fight back against all the systems designed to keep track of our comings and goings. Developed by Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, these glasses include 11 LEDs that blast a privacy curtain of near-infrared light to obscure your face.
It’s invisible to the human eye, but the near-infrared light will prevent facial recognition systems from registering the wearer’s face. Because unlike a pair of regular sunglasses, the LEDs are strategically placed to illuminate the eyes and nose, which facial-recognition systems usually look for as dark and shadowed areas. Unfortunately, the glasses won’t foil cameras that are unaffected by infrared light, but neither man nor machine should be able to pick you out in a crowd when used alongside an outrageous oversized Groucho Marx moustache.
