the.com/spectacles
the original wearable tech, quietly upgrading human eyeballs for seven centuries before anyone said 'startup'.
means Spectacles are a pair of glass or plastic lenses set in a frame and worn over the eyes to correct or aid vision.
from From Latin 'spectaculum,' a public show or sight, from 'spectare,' to watch or behold — itself from 'specere,' to look. The same root gives us 'spectator' and 'spectacle.' By way of medieval Latin and Old French, the word came to English for the lenses through which one looks: literally, little instruments of seeing. The plural stuck because they come, sensibly, in pairs.
- old invention
- First made in Italy around 1290 AD
- benjamin franklin
- Invented bifocals to dodge swapping pairs
- status symbol
- Once worn fake to look scholarly and rich
- side effect
- Pince-nez clamped the nose, no arms needed
crystal palace — english football club known for their elaborate pre-match spectacles and pageantry since 1905
opening ceremony beijing 2008 — olympic spectacle watched by 3.6 billion people, featuring 2,008 performers in synchronized choreography
carnival of venice — annual venetian festival featuring elaborate masks, costumes, and public spectacles dating to the 12th century