These sunglasses are definitely eye-catching, or perhaps a better description would be sun catching. A post on Digital Journal highlights a recent solar harvesting prototype by researchers at Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Germany. The glasses already had me at solar, but the tiny electronics located on the temples are impressive and there’s even more magic in the lenses.

The solar cell lenses have a thickness of around 1.6 millimeters and they weigh just six grams; which is not dissimilar from lenses found in traditional sunglasses. The microprocessor, together with two tiny displays, is integrated into the upper region of the solar glasses.

At the mention of displays I wasn’t sure whether they were trying to do a solar powered style of Google Glass. However, it turns out the displays show illumination and ambient temperature, which is handy for understanding best scenarios for solar collection. These sunglasses are not only smart in form, but they can function inside as well as outside. Future uses include windows, although with the thin form I can imagine this as decorative plating for wearables, brims for hats or even as a visor for motorcycle helmets. If you would like to dive into some clean energy, check out our Solar Boost Bag. Although not as tiny as a pair of glasses, this bag will produce enough electricity to help charge your phone, which is handy. So, get soldering and send us some pics of your solar masterpiece.

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

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