For the past 35 years researcher and inventor Steve Mann has been wearing computerized eyewear devices of his own design. His earlier designs from the late 70s and early 80s were clunky helmets that made him look like a space marine from Aliens. More recent efforts such as the EyeTap are sleeker and include sophisticated features like infrared and high dynamic range vision. Mann talks about his 35 years of computerized vision, and offers unique insights on Google Glass and other recent arrivals to wearable computing, over at IEEE Spectrum.

Mann’s early system from 1978.

Mann wearing the EyeTap system.

photos by Ryan Enn Hughes, video by Raymond Lo