Google chief Sergey Brin tries out
Epson’s Moverio BT-200 smart glasses at International CES. Photo by Tim Moore of Rochester Optical.

LAS VEGAS—Wearable technology, including smart watches, fitness monitors and smart glasses, took its place among the shining stars of this year’s International CES, which wrapped up here on Friday. Amid acres of curved screen OLED monitors, smart cars and Internet-connected home appliances, wearables attracted their share of attention from the roughly 150,000 attendees, many of them veteran CES attendees who are hard to impress.


The Vision Council’s Erin Hildreth advises CES attendees about how to prevent digital eye strain.

As recently as four years ago, attendees had to scour the exhibit halls to locate wearable tech products, which had just begun to register on most consumers’ radar. But steady progress in product design, incessant marketing and a huge infusion of investment capital has brought new energy and visibility to wearables.

Eyewear wearables were more prominent than ever at CES. Among the hottest products was the Oculus virtual reality headset and smart glasses from Toshiba and Sony, which have yet to be released. Although Google did not exhibit, some attendees wore Google Glass, and Google chief Sergey Brin was spotted at the Epson booth trying out the latest version of the company’s Moverio BT-200 smart glasses.



Oakley’s CEO Colin Baden appeared onstage during the keynote session of Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich. Luxottica and Intel recently announced a research partnership and at CES, the two made it known that Oakley would be the first Luxottica brand to launch an “intelligent product,” designed to enhance athletes’ performance, later this year.

The Vision Council also made national and on-site news at CES with the release of its new report on digital eye strain, “Hindsight Is 20/20/20: Protect Your Eyes from Digital Devices.” Dora Adamopoulos, OD, medical adviser to The Vision Council, participated in a session at the Digital Health Summit, an education track at CES. Look for more visuals and coverage of eyewear and vision-related technology in Vision Monday and Vision Monday’s Eye2 in the coming weeks.