Cross-cut: glasses

Axis: form_factor

16 corpus entries disclose this tag.

Earliest disclosure: 1963-09

Listed in chronological order. Each entry’s prior_art_notes and disclosure_citation constitute the citeable prior art material.

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• Cyclops’s ruby-quartz visor (X-Men) (1963-09) — cyclops-ruby-quartz-visor [fictional] — The X-Men #1 (cover date September 1963), Marvel Comics; eyewear (visor or glasses) with ruby-quartz lenses and a wearer-operated aperture control that contains and modulates an energy emission from t…

  Neuromancer — Molly’s mirrored ocular implants with embedded data readout (1984)

• id: neuromancer-mirrorshade-ocular-implants
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: implantable
• creator: William Gibson
• disclosure: Gibson, William. Neuromancer, Ace Books, 1984; surgically inset mirrored lenses sealing the eye sockets, with a time display and other readouts projected into the wearer’s field of view.
• ip status: fictional
• prior art notes: Discloses surgically implanted ocular lenses that present a head-up data readout (clock and other status) in the wearer’s visual field — an early implanted-AR-display concept. Relevant to ocular-implant / AR-contact-lens claims combining ‘an implanted or contact-lens optical element’ and ‘an overlaid data readout in the visual field’. § 103 motivation as of 1984 — predating [[cyberpunk-2020-cyberoptics-and-interface-plugs]] (1988) and [[rainbows-end-ar-contact-lens]] (2006). Non-enabling.

Geordi La Forge’s VISOR (Star Trek: TNG) (1987-09-28)

• id: star-trek-tng-visor
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Gene Roddenberry / Paramount Television
• disclosure: Star Trek: The Next Generation, ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ (premiered September 28, 1987); the VISOR — eyewear that senses across the electromagnetic spectrum and couples the signal to the wearer’s optic nerves.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal
• prior art notes: Discloses sensory-substitution eyewear: a head-worn multi-spectral sensor (IR/thermal and beyond) whose output is rendered to the wearer as perception, via direct neural coupling at the temples. Relevant to (a) sensory-substitution / vision-aid eyewear claims and (b) eyewear claims that visualize non-visible-spectrum data (thermal/IR/UV overlay glasses). § 103 motivation that head-worn EM-spectrum-extending eyewear was an articulated objective by 1987. Non-enabling on the neural interface.

They Live ‘Hoffman lenses’ (information-overlay sunglasses) (1988-11-04)

• id: they-live-hoffman-lenses
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: John Carpenter / Universal Pictures
• disclosure: They Live (Universal Pictures), released November 4, 1988; sunglasses whose lenses reveal an otherwise-hidden information layer (true content of signage, currency, media) overlaid on the visual field.
• ip status: fictional
• prior art notes: Discloses eyewear that reveals a parallel information layer registered to objects in the visual field — semantic annotation of the real world through the lens. The mechanism shown is passive optical, not electronic, so it is a weak § 102 reference for electronic AR eyewear; its value is § 103 motivation that ‘put on glasses, see annotations on real-world objects’ was a stated objective by 1988, contributing to obviousness of electronic AR-eyewear annotation claims when combined with enabling display/tracking art.

Dragon Ball ‘Scouter’ (monocular scanning eyewear) (1989-04)

• id: dragon-ball-z-scouter
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Akira Toriyama
• disclosure: Toriyama, Akira. Dragon Ball (manga), the Saiyan arc introducing the ‘Scouter’ c. April 1989, Shueisha (Dragon Ball Z anime, 1989); a monocular eyewear device that scans a target and displays a quantified strength metric (‘power level’), with two-way voice communication and a head-up readout.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-rgb
• prior art notes: Discloses monocular head-worn eyewear that scans a person/object in view, computes and displays a quantified metric about the target, and provides two-way voice comms — all in a single ear-hooked unit with a flip-down display. Relevant to AR-eyewear claims combining ‘a monocular near-eye display’, ‘an outward sensor’, ‘on-view target measurement/identification’, and ‘integrated voice comms’. § 103 motivation that the scan-and-display-a-metric monocular headset was an articulated objective by 1989. Cf. [[black-mirror-nosedive-rating-overlay]].

Back to the Future Part II personal video/phone glasses (1989-11-22)

• id: bttf2-video-glasses
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Robert Zemeckis / Universal Pictures
• disclosure: Back to the Future Part II (Universal Pictures), released November 22, 1989; wraparound glasses worn casually at home that display television, answer telephone calls, and present caller and channel information — each family member wearing their own.
• ip status: fictional
• prior art notes: Discloses lightweight glasses functioning as a personal head-worn display for video media and as a telephony terminal (presenting caller ID, accepting calls), used by multiple co-located people each with their own pair. Relevant to display-glasses claims combining ‘an eyewear frame’, ‘a near-eye display presenting video’, ‘a wireless link receiving media and calls’, and ‘a personal/individual viewing context’. § 103 motivation that the personal media-and-phone display glasses were an articulated objective by 1989 — predating Snow Crash’s 1992 gargoyle rig.

Star Trek: TNG ‘The Game’ — head-worn neuro-reward gaming visor (1991-10-28)

• id: star-trek-tng-the-game-neuro-visor
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Brannon Braga / Paramount Television
• disclosure: Star Trek: The Next Generation, ‘The Game’ (first aired 28 October 1991); a small visor worn over the eyes that projects a game into the wearer’s vision and stimulates the brain’s reward centers on success, producing compulsive use.
• ip status: fictional
• prior art notes: Discloses a head-worn device that presents a game in the wearer’s visual field and delivers a neural reward stimulus contingent on gameplay events. Relevant to neuro-gaming claims combining ‘a near-eye display presenting a game’ and ‘delivery of a neuro-reward/stimulation contingent on game state’. § 103 motivation as of 1991 — predating [[black-mirror-fifteen-million-merits-gaze-enforcement]] and [[black-mirror-playtest-implant]].

Snow Crash ‘Gargoyle’ wearable computer rig (1992)

• id: snow-crash-gargoyle-rig
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Neal Stephenson
• disclosure: Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. Bantam Books, 1992 — the ‘gargoyles’: people wearing head-mounted display goggles, body-worn computers, and continuous-capture sensors, with voice query and head tracking.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-rgb, sensor-microphone-air, sensor-accelerometer
• prior art notes: Discloses an integrated head-worn AR rig: near-eye display goggles + body-worn processor + always-on cameras and microphones + head-tracking, with voice queries against a networked database and continuous capture/upload of the wearer’s surroundings. Relevant to AR-glasses claims combining ‘a near-eye display’, ‘an outward-facing camera’, ‘an inertial sensor for head pose’, ‘a microphone for voice input’, and ‘continuous data capture/transmission’. § 103 motivation that the always-on capture-and-query AR wearable was a concrete objective by 1992. Non-enabling; pair with enabling HMD/SLAM art.

Metal Gear Solid — ‘Sneaking Suit’ with body monitoring and the ‘Solid Eye’ (monocular multi-mode HUD) (1998-09-03)

• id: metal-gear-solid-sneaking-suit-and-solid-eye
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: garment
• creator: Hideo Kojima / Konami
• disclosure: Metal Gear Solid (Konami, released 3 September 1998; ‘Solid Eye’ and adaptive ‘OctoCamo’ suit in Metal Gear Solid 4, 2008); a form-fitting ‘Sneaking Suit’ with body-monitoring (a ‘life’/stamina/’PSYCHE’ readout), a ‘Codec’ communication link, and the ‘Solid Eye’ — a monocular head-worn device with selectable modes (night vision, binocular zoom, threat/contact detection) and an AR overlay — plus an adaptive-camouflage outer layer.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-ir, sensor-camera-thermal
• algorithms: algo-stress-index
• prior art notes: Discloses (a) a form-fitting suit with continuous body monitoring (stamina, stress/’psyche’, vitals) and comms, (b) a monocular head-worn device with user-selectable imaging modes (night vision, zoom, threat detection) and an AR overlay, and (c) an adaptive-camouflage outer layer responsive to surroundings. Relevant to instrumented-bodysuit and monocular-AR-HUD claims. § 103 motivation as of 1998 (Solid Eye / OctoCamo as of 2008). Cf. [[dragon-ball-z-scouter]], [[splinter-cell-trifocal-goggles]], [[crysis-nanosuit]].

Rainbows End AR contact lenses and ‘wearing’ (2006)

• id: rainbows-end-ar-contact-lens
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: contact-lens
• creator: Vernor Vinge
• disclosure: Vinge, Vernor. Rainbows End. Tor Books, 2006 — augmented-reality contact lenses plus clothing-integrated compute (‘wearing’), with gaze and gesture control, persistent shared overlays, view-sharing, and a developer ecosystem of competing AR platforms.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-eye, sensor-camera-rgb
• algorithms: algo-eye-gaze-tracking
• prior art notes: Among the most specific fictional anticipations of modern AR eyewear: discloses (a) AR contact lenses rendering registered overlays, (b) clothing-integrated computing and sensing as the host platform, (c) gaze tracking and subtle gesture as the primary input modality, (d) multi-user shared/synchronized overlays and view-sharing, and (e) an open developer ecosystem with competing AR layers. Relevant to AR-contact-lens claims, gaze-controlled AR claims, and shared/collaborative-AR claims. § 103 motivation, circa 2006, toward essentially the entire modern AR-eyewear feature set. Non-enabling on optics and power; pair with enabling contact-lens-display and low-power-display art.

Halting State AR glasses (‘CopSpace’ and ARG overlays) (2007)

• id: halting-state-ar-glasses
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Charles Stross
• disclosure: Stross, Charles. Halting State. Ace Books, 2007 — networked AR glasses with role-specific overlay layers (police ‘CopSpace’), shared annotations, gaze interaction, and alternate-reality-game overlays as a plot mechanism.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-rgb, sensor-camera-eye
• algorithms: algo-eye-gaze-tracking
• prior art notes: Discloses AR glasses with switchable, permission-scoped overlay layers (an enterprise/role ‘channel’ model), networked shared annotations registered to physical locations, gaze-driven UI, and overlapping game/social overlay layers. Relevant to AR-eyewear claims about layer/channel management, location-anchored shared annotations, and access-controlled AR content. § 103 motivation, circa 2007, that multi-layer permissioned networked AR eyewear was a concrete objective.

Batman — cowl with ‘Detective Vision’ (head-worn AR with through-obstacle vitals/skeletal overlay) (2009-08-25)

• id: batman-detective-vision-cowl
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: helmet
• creator: Rocksteady Studios / Eidos Interactive
• disclosure: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady / Eidos, released 25 August 2009); the cowl’s ‘Detective Vision’ overlays a real-time augmented view highlighting nearby people’s skeletons and heartbeats through walls, evidence trails, and structural details, with integrated comms.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-ir
• prior art notes: Discloses head-worn eyewear/cowl with an AR mode that detects nearby people (including through obstructions), renders their skeletal structure and live heart-rate indication in the wearer’s view, and highlights other scene features, with comms. Relevant to AR-headgear claims combining ‘a near-eye display’, ‘sensing of nearby persons’, ‘overlay of their physiological indicators (e.g. heart rate)’, and ‘highlighting of scene features’. § 103 motivation as of 2009. Cf. [[robocop-targeting-hud]], [[predator-bio-mask]], [[total-recall-walkthrough-body-scanner]].

Kingsman AR glasses (HUD, recording, X-ray, scanning, holographic conferencing) (2014-12-13)

• id: kingsman-ar-glasses
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Matthew Vaughn / Marv Films
• disclosure: Kingsman: The Secret Service (20th Century Fox / Marv Films), 2014; agency eyeglasses providing a heads-up information overlay, point-of-view video recording, see-through (X-ray-style) imaging, object/person scanning, and rendering of remote participants as holographic avatars seated around a table.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-rgb, sensor-camera-ir
• prior art notes: Discloses eyeglasses integrating: a near-eye information HUD; an outward camera with POV recording; a see-through imaging mode; an object/person scanning-and-identification function; and shared telepresence rendering remote participants as registered holographic avatars in the wearer’s view. Relevant to AR-glasses claims combining ‘an eyewear frame’, ‘a near-eye display’, ‘an outward camera’, ‘recording’, ‘on-view object/person identification’, and ‘shared/telepresence AR’. § 103 motivation that the fully-featured AR information eyewear was an articulated objective by 2014.

Debener et al. (2015) — cEEGrid: unobtrusive around-the-ear EEG with flexible printed electrodes (2015-11-17)

• id: debener-2015-ceegrid-around-ear-eeg
• corpus: academic
• form factor: patch
• creator: Stefan Debener / Martin G. Bleichner et al. (Oldenburg)
• disclosure: Debener S, Emkes R, De Vos M, Bleichner MG. ‘Unobtrusive ambulatory EEG using a smartphone and flexible printed electrodes around the ear.’ Scientific Reports 2015;5:16743.
• ip status: public-domain
• sensors: sensor-dry-eeg-electrode, sensor-eeg
• algorithms: algo-erp-classification, algo-sleep-staging, algo-drowsiness-detection
• prior art notes: Discloses a flexible, printed, C-shaped electrode array worn around the ear (behind and below the auricle) for unobtrusive ambulatory EEG, recorded to a smartphone-class device. Any wearable claim reciting ‘an array of EEG electrodes arranged around/behind the ear of the wearer’ (the geometry used by EEG glasses, EEG earbuds, and EEG behind-the-ear stickers) reads on Debener et al. 2015. Directly relevant prior art for [[zanetti-aminifar-atienza-eglass-2025]] (which uses temporal/around-ear pickup) and for around-ear-EEG hearable claims; anchor for that cross-cut.

Horizon Zero Dawn — the ‘Focus’ (compact ear/temple-worn AR scanner with object analysis and log playback) (2017-02-28)

• id: horizon-zero-dawn-focus
• corpus: fictional
• form factor: earbud
• creator: Guerrilla Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment
• disclosure: Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games / Sony, released 28 February 2017); the ‘Focus’ — a small triangular device worn at the temple/ear that provides AR overlays, scans and analyses machines and people in view (highlighting structure, components, and weak points), records and replays holographic/audio ‘datapoint’ logs, and networks with infrastructure.
• ip status: fictional
• sensors: sensor-camera-rgb
• prior art notes: Discloses a compact ear/temple-worn device providing AR overlays, real-time scanning and structural analysis of objects/persons in view, recording and playback of geolocated holographic/audio logs, and networked operation — all in a minimal form factor. Relevant to compact-AR-wearable claims combining ‘an ear- or temple-worn device’, ‘an outward sensor’, ‘on-view object/person analysis with overlay’, and ‘recorded-log capture and playback’. § 103 motivation as of 2017. Cf. [[dragon-ball-z-scouter]], [[metal-gear-solid-sneaking-suit-and-solid-eye]], [[her-samantha-earpiece]].

e-Glass (Zanetti, Aminifar, Atienza; EPFL, 2025) — wearable EEG eyeglasses (2025-11-29)

• id: zanetti-aminifar-atienza-eglass-2025
• corpus: academic
• form factor: glasses
• creator: Renato Zanetti / Amir Aminifar / David Atienza (EPFL ESL)
• disclosure: Zanetti R, Aminifar A, Atienza D, et al. ‘e-Glass: …’ (wearable EEG monitoring in an eyeglasses form factor with edge ML for seizure detection and cognitive-workload monitoring). Scientific Reports 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-29893-4.
• ip status: unknown
• sensors: sensor-dry-eeg-electrode, sensor-eeg
• algorithms: algo-seizure-detection, algo-cognitive-workload
• prior art notes: Discloses an eyeglasses-form-factor wearable EEG monitor with dry electrodes at the temples / around the ears (temporal/occipital pickup, validated against a reference montage at r≈0.93) and on-device machine learning for two applications — ambulatory seizure detection and cognitive-workload monitoring. Relevant to AR-glasses / smart-eyewear claims reciting ‘EEG electrodes integrated into an eyeglasses frame’ and ‘an on-device classifier operating on the EEG’. Anchor for the glasses × EEG cross-cut. Bounds the application space: temple/around-ear contact supports seizure, drowsiness, attention, SSVEP — not frontal ERP or motor-imagery BCI.