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These Sunglasses Transform The World Around You Into A Photo Filter

It's like Instagram, but without the selfies.

For those unimpressed by the two-dimensional nostalgia provided by the standard phone or computer filter, we give you Tens Life. Pegged as a “real life photo filter,“ a pair of sunglasses from the Tens brand enhance your field of view to the extent that a clunky device never could. In a sense, they’re Instagram to the second power.

The idea for the brand originated some three years ago. As co-founding director Marty Bell, who also happens to be one of the creative minds behind Poolside FM, explains, “We asked ourselves: What if we could skip the cameras and computers altogether? What if there was a way we could filter everything that we see whilst disconnected from technology?”

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Through endless research with physical photo filters and digital manipulation techniques, Bell and his associates discovered a combination that they could then trial on plastic polymer discs.

He elaborates, “We focused predominantly on the way the bright sunlight was filtered—paying close attention to filling highlight colors with subtle [yellows and oranges], adding saturation in the green and blues, particularly the sky tone. In unison this coloring boosts the saturation of what the wearer sees whilst blocking out harmful rays.” So, instead of giving off a cold, negative cast, the lens takes advantage of the light. By comparing their custom tinted squares of plastic side-by-side to effects they had manipulated in Photoshop, they were able to arrive at their desired effect.

But, as Bell and his fellow co-founders Tom Welsh and Kris Reid quickly discovered, prototyping and business logistics made delivering Tens lenses to the public harder than anticipated. Tack on high initial costs and minimum order quantities, and crowdfunding quickly emerged as a means to an end. Therefore, Tens will be launching an Indiegogo campaign that starts today and runs through June 6th. Early adopters will have from now until June 8 to contribute to the campaign and receive a hands-free reality shift in return.

You can stay updated on the Tens Life through their Twitter, Facebook, and, you guessed it, Instagram.

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