14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt, the Navy Seals, some of the world's best-trained military group, are also equipped with some of the latest-gen equipment and accessories, their latest gadgets being new protective eyewear that will eliminate the need for warfighters to stop to change out colored lenses to accommodate differences in light levels. Most of the military wear eyewear for protection reasons, but they also have to manually change lenses with tinted ones when the level of brightness tends to get above a certain level.
However, it seems that the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) TechSolutions department has developed the Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear (FTPE), that manages to change color quicker than the consumer-grade transitional lenses available on the market.
In fact, "transition time is less than 0.5 seconds," said Stephanie Everett, ONR's TechSolutions program manager.
"Currently, warfighters are using a set of interchangeable lenses that require them to stop and manually switch lenses to adjust the goggles to a particular light environment," Everett further commented, also saying that "But they can't take the time to stop and remove and replace the lenses."
The lenses feature liquid crystal solutions including customized dyes that transition to amber, blue, dark gray or clear when an electric charge is applied, with the specific tint being either selected automatically, when the environment conditions change, or manually, by pressing a button found on the glasses, thus granting users quite a high level of freedom in choosing the degree of protection that best suits their needs.
Plus, the lenses meet the American National Standards Institute's ballistic impact safety requirements, also ensuring a certain degree of eye protection for the wearer.
The Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is expected to take delivery of the FTPE glasses, the military group ordering around 100 pairs, that will be manufactured by a Navy contractor called AlphaMicron.