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All of a sudden, the fact that glasses are childproof and compact isn't enough anymore. We want them to flash lights and speak Spanish. Here’s why Hollywood is to blame...

Google have announced project Google Glass; an interactive set of slick looking eyewear that is designed to give the wearer hands free access to apps and facilities usually accessible through your computer or smartphone.

The web has exploded with predictions, speculations and predictably the odd spoof clip of people swerving around roads in vehicles as their sight is obscured by a version of Google maps that takes up their entire field of vision.

One thing is certainly for sure, glasses have come a long way from the heavy, wonky frames of their thick rimmed ancestors. Hollywood has predicted impressive technological advancements almost accidentally in the search for interesting ways to approach futuristic subject matter, and the humble eyeglass is no exception. Take a look at these inventive approaches to visual aids as represented by cinematic gems over the past thirty years:

The World is Not Enough

Bond is notorious for having the fanciest high tech gizmos as just another one of his job perks, and this 2009 flick is no exception to the rule. As part of his standard spy kit, the trigger-happy protagonist is equipped with a pair of blue tinted X-ray specs which enable him to see who might be carrying a concealed weapon.

Watchmen

Night Owl II is played by Patrick Wilson in this epic feature based on the colourful inhabitants of DC Comic pages, sporting an impressively hi-tech pair of night vision goggles which are designed to enable him to see in the dark. Being colossally wealthy he also has an enviable variety of gadgets and trinkets in his secret underground lair, including a huge airship complete with fire thrower!

Back to The Future II

1980’s movies such as this cult classic had fun exploring the technological possibilities that the future might bring. Aside from hover boards and the obvious time-travel aspect, Marty is seen wearing a pair of blocky JVC video glasses at the dinner table which provide the wearer with two whole channel’s worth of in-your-face entertainment. Such technology is already available in handheld smartphones and will be incorporated into the much sleeker Google Glass units.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Geordi La Forge – the helmsman of the Starship Enterprise – was born blind and so to stop him crashing the ship into asteroids or bits of planet, some genius hooked him up with a Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement (a Visor to you and me), which also allowed him to see at infrared and microscopic levels.

Mission Impossible

Mission Impossible 4 was released at the end of last year and Tom Cruise has spent most of the franchise farting about in super spy glasses which have the ability to do things like explode and …well that’s it really. The latest flick titled Ghost Protocol sees him sporting a fetching pair of transparent custom Oakley glasses, specially designed with motorcycle riders in mind to block wind without requiring the attachment of a double glazed conservatory to the front of one’s face.

Let us know what you’d do with a pair of exploding glasses!

Author Bio:
Elise Lévêque writes for Valley Optics and never spends too much money on glasses because she's forever breaking them. She loves films from the past and everything social media.