Alegre Industrial creates WeON Glasses

Optical glasses that permit the user to interact with smart phones, tablets and computers.

Alegre Industrial Studio has designed the first optical glasses whose frames incorporate an electronic device that interacts with smart phones, computer tablets and personal computers.

WeON Glasses are unisex spectacles with frames made of graduated or solar glass whose distinguishing feature is a technology capsule and Bluetooth 4.0 chip built into them. Connected to smart phones or tablets via an app, the glasses interact with the user via an LED light which indicates what’s happening on the electronic devices. Thanks to this app, available both on Apple (IOS) and Android devices, the user can choose when and why the LED flashes on, and shows if he or she has received a phone call, message, email, text or news of events flagged up by the social media they use. These notifications are colour-coded, with colours chosen by the users, and allow them to interact with mobile devices even when they’re in silent mode. The glasses have buttons which allow the smart phones or tablets to be controlled remotely, enabling them, say, to take pictures, tape or video-record and play music or slideshows.

The glasses’ first protoype was unveiled at the most recent World Mobile Congress, held in Barcelona, and was shortlisted in the prestigious Mobile Start-Ups competition. WeON Glasses have been developed by Spanish company Ion Eyewear — founded by Ricardo Urías and Santiago Ambit — and will go on sale from May at opticians and technology stores in the EU and US. They will cost around the same as the majority of spectacle frames on the market, and can be pre-ordered on the company’s website, www.weonglasses.com

Boasting over 10 years’ experience in product design, Alegre Industrial Studio has integrated this new technology into lightweight, elegant spectacle frames. The studio strives to act as bridge between design and manufacturing with the aim of introducing technical and creative innovations, such as the new WeON glasses, that improve our everyday lives.