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A Pair of Reading Glasses with E-Books Inside the "Lenses"

The Sol Reader, a wearable e-reader

By Rain Noe - June 23, 2023

in Tech

Currently there's a market for both the iPad and the Kindle e-reader. Same form factors, but one does a lot of things, the other only presents books and costs less.

A "reading technology" startup called Sol is betting the same dual market exists for tech-laden goggles. While some will want Apple's $3,500 do-everything Vision Pro goggles, Sol is offering their $350 Sol Reader, essentially a Kindle shaped like a pair of eyeglasses, for people who only want to read books (but who want to wear something on their face?).

The Sol Reader presents books on e-ink display, one in front of each eye.

Peripheral vision around the "pages," they say, is maintained. Each display features a user-adjustable diopter, so those who need corrective lenses can dial in their prescription, eliminating the need to wear glasses.

To navigate and turn pages, you use their pebble-shaped remote.

It seems like a strange idea to me, but might make more sense for readers with limited use of their hands. One reviewer praised the "peace of losing optionality with the Sol Reader on," reminding me that different people have different reading needs. And for those who like to read in bed, next to a partner who's already lights-out, the Sol Reader ought come in handy.

I'll be curious to see how this thing does on the market, once it's released; right now it's in the pre-order stage.

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Jill Karol

a year ago

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Yeah that font is painful to read on my desktop - can't imagine how bad it'll be in those lenses

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Joseph Stirt

a year ago

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That display is dreadful: it looks like c. 1975 dot-matrix printer output. This product is D.O.A.

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Eric Ludlum

a year ago

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Did they make them on a hot-wire cutter?

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