Tzukuri, an Australia-based company, is making waves in the worlds of fashion and technology with a new type of bluetooth-enabled sunglasses. The sunglasses, featuring lenses which are handcrafted by artisans in Japan’s Fukui prefecture, feature a small, low energy chip in the frames. This chip can be synced with a smartphone, effectively giving users the ability to track their sunglasses, no matter where they go.

The feature works via a coupled smartphone app produced by Tzukuri. When you get 16, 32, and 50 feet away from your sunglasses, an alert will go off on your phone, warning you that you’re leaving your precious shades behind — good thing, too, considering these bad boys will set you back $250 to $350 a pair.


Continuing a Year of New Sunglasses for the Tech Buff
2014 has been a great year for new sunglasses technology, whether you’re into them for style or for functionality. A start up out of the United Kingdom known as Tens is releasing a new type of sunglasses that makes the world around you look as though it’s being filtered through the popular social media service Instagram’s popular photo filters. That company is currently running an Indiegogo campaign, now valued at more than $427,000. Whether you want to make sure you never lose your favorite pair of shades again or you simply want the world to look a little more interesting, space age fashion designers are waiting to make your dream a reality.


What Effect Will Loss-Proof Sunglasses Have on the Market?
A typical year in the United States sees nearly 100 million sunglasses sold. If these loss-proof sunglasses take hold and really become popular among the masses, won’t that mean people will stop needing to buy sunglasses? When you consider that Tzukuri’s glasses are powered by solar radiation and are theoretically good for life, why bother buying other sunglasses?


Well, first off Tzukuri’s glasses are $250 a pop. That’s way more than most people are willing to shell out on a pair of shades that need only a misplaced foot to render scrap for recycling. These, like the Tens Instagram glasses, are another niche item that won’t effect the bulk of the sunglasses market.


Of course, even this hi-tech eyewear isn’t immune to needing the TLC made available by the current sunglasses market. Once your lenses wear out and you try to fit your new lenses in at home, chances are you’ll find you need help putting your new lenses into your glasses. Loosened frames will need maintenance to keep the glasses from hanging awkwardly low on your face. In other words, whether it’s bluetooth-enabled sunglasses or otherwise, niche items will do very little to upset the status quo in the world of sunglasses.


What do you think about all of this new sunglasses technology? Will you buy your own pair of robo-shades, or will you stick with the old faithful versions? Let us know in the comments below.

Related:

tzukuri, tzukuri unlosable glasses, unlosable glasses.