Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of
protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or
chemicals from striking the
eye
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
s. They are used in
chemistry laboratories and in
woodworking. They are often used in snow sports as well, and in
swimming. Goggles are often worn when using
power tools such as
drills or
chainsaw
A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, Log bucking, bucki ...
s to prevent flying particles from damaging the eyes. Many types of goggles are available as prescription goggles for those with vision problems.
History
The
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, ...
and
Yupik peoples carved
snow goggles from the
antlers of
caribou, wood, and shell to help prevent
snow blindness. The goggles were curved to fit the user's face and had a large groove cut in the back to allow for the nose. A long thin slit was cut through the goggles to allow in a small amount of light, diminishing subsequent
ultraviolet rays. The goggles were held to the head by a cord made of caribou
sinew
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
.
In the early 20th century, goggles were worn by drivers of uncovered cars to prevent irritation of the eyes by dust or wind. Likewise in the first ten years after the invention of the airplane in 1903 goggles became a necessity as wind blow became more severe as aircraft speeds increased and as protection against bugstrikes at high altitudes. The first pilot to wear goggles was probably Charles Manly in his failed attempt to fly
Samuel Langley's aerodrome in 1903.
File:Inuit Goggles.jpg, Traditional Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, ...
goggles made of caribou antler, used to combat snow blindness
File:Gogglesnen.jpg, Metal nenets goggles
File:Swimming goggles.JPG, Swimming goggles
File:Blowtorching goggles and helmet.jpg, Blowtorching goggles and safety helmet
File:Polar Bear cub with sunglasses.jpg, Polar Bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spe ...
cub with sun goggles in the 1940s
File:Safety goggles and masks are worn by workers on operations8d18009v.jpg, Safety goggles and helmets, Bell Aircraft, 1943
File:Aviator Wilmer Stultz in 1928 (cropped).jpg, Aviator Wilmer Stultz in 1928
Types
The requirements for goggles varies depending on the use. Some examples:
* Cold weather: Most modern cold-weather goggles have two layers of
lens to prevent the interior from becoming "foggy". With only a single lens, the interior
water vapor condenses onto the lens because the lens is colder than the vapor, although
anti-fog agents can be used. The reasoning behind the dual layer lens is that the inner lens will be warm while the outer lens will be cold. As long as the temperature of the inner lens is close to that of the interior water vapor, the vapor should not condense. However, if water vapor gets between the layers of the lens, condensation can occur between the lenses and is almost impossible to get rid of; thus, properly constructed and maintained dual layer lenses should be airtight to prevent water vapor from entering between the lenses.
*
Swimming: Must be watertight to prevent water, such as
salt water when swimming in the
ocean, or
chlorinated water when swimming in a pool, from irritating the eyes or blurring vision. Allow swimmers to see clearly underwater. They will not be usable more than a few feet underwater, because the water pressure will press them tightly against the face. (Below this limit, a
diving mask must be used, which allows the user to equalize pressure by exhaling air through the nose.) Examples of these include
Swedish goggles.
*
Power tools: Must be made of an unbreakable material that prevents chunks of metal, wood, plastic, concrete, and so on from hitting or piercing the eye, usually
polycarbonate
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
. Usually has some sort of ventilation to prevent sweat from building up inside the goggles and fogging the surface.
*
Blowtorch goggles: These protect the eyes from glare and flying sparks and hot metal splashes while using or near a
blowtorch. They are not the correct filters for
arc welding.
*
Welding goggles: Includes all goggles for eye protection during welding or cutting. They provide protection against debris, the heat from welding, and, with the proper filters, the optical radiation resulting from the welding, which can otherwise cause
arc eye.
*
Motorcycle riding and other open-air activities: Prevents insects, dust, and so on from hitting the eyes.
*
Laboratory and
research
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
: Combines impact resistance with side shields to prevent chemical splashes reaching the eyes. May also include
laser protection which would be covered by
EN 207 (Europe) and ANSI Z 136 (United States). Examples of these include
red adaptation goggles
Dark adaptor goggles, also called red adaptation goggles, are used in the field of meteorology and astronomy for adapting the eyes to the dark prior to an observation at night. They also aid with the identification of clouds during bright sunshi ...
.
*
Racquetball: Protect the eyes from racquets swinging in an enclosed area and from impact from hard rubber ball.
*
Winter sport
Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold ...
s: Protect the eyes from
glare
Glare (derived from GLAss REinforced laminate ) is a fiber metal laminate (FML) composed of several very thin layers of metal (usually aluminum) interspersed with layers of S-2 glass-fiber ''pre-preg'', bonded together with a matrix such as epo ...
and from icy particles flying up from the ground. Double lens anti-fog ski goggles were invented and patented by Robert Earl "Bob" Smith. Visible Light Transmission (VLT) or S value describes the percentage of light allowed through the lens.
*
Astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
and
meteorology:
dark adaptor goggles
Dark adaptor goggles, also called red adaptation goggles, are used in the field of meteorology and astronomy for adapting the eyes to the dark prior to an observation at night. They also aid with the identification of clouds during bright sunshi ...
are used before going outside at night, in order to help the eyes adapt to the dark.
*
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
: Several
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
players have worn goggles during play, including
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran.
Given name Karim
* Karim ...
,
James Worthy,
Horace Grant,
Kurt Rambis and
Amar'e Stoudemire; they prevent a fellow player from scratching or hitting the eyes when trying to grab the basketball. In most circumstances, a player starts wearing protective goggles to prevent ''further'' injury to the eyes.
*
Aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ...
: In open
cockpit aircraft, such as old
biplanes,
aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
s, such as
Amelia Earhart and
Charles Kingsford Smith, would wear goggles to help protect from the wind and are still in use today. Examples of these include the
AN-6530 goggles.
*
Virtual reality: A virtual reality headset, sometimes called "goggles", is a wrap-around visual interface to display computer output. Commonly the computer display information is presented as a three-dimensional representation of real-world environments.
*
Drunkenness: Goggles designed to simulate the vision altering effects of
psychoactive drugs
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior.
T ...
, in particular
alcohol. Examples include
Fatal Vision goggles. There are no studies that have found beneficial effects of use of fatal vision goggles on the likelihood that individuals will later engage in impaired driving.
Fashion
Goggles are often worn as a fashion statement in certain subcultures, most often as part of the
cybergoth subculture. They are usually worn over the eyes or up on the forehead to secure 'falls': a type of long, often brightly coloured, synthetic hairpiece. Fans of the
steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
genre or subculture also frequently wear steampunk-styled goggles, particularly when performing in a
live action role-playing game.
Goggles are also frequently used by
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
and
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
characters as a fashion statement. For example, it is an idiosyncrasy of team leader characters in the ''
Digimon'' anime to wear goggles. Other notable characters who wear goggles are the young
Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru from
Naruto, Matt from ''
Death Note'' and
Usopp from ''
One Piece''.
Non-human
Goggles are available for
horses used in speed sports such as
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
.
[Landers T. A. (2006) Professional Care of the Racehorse, Revised Edition: A Guide to Grooming, Feeding, and Handling the Equine Athlete. Blood Horse Publications. 308 pages. Page 138.] In some traditions of horse mounted
bullfighting, the horse may wear a protective cloth over its eyes.
Goggles have been used on military working dogs, for protection in harsh conditions, such as sandstorms and rotorwash from helicopters. One of the brands of these types of goggles are
Doggles
Doggles are a commercial brand of eye protection for dogs in the form of tinted goggles designed and manufactured to fit the shape of a dog's head.
While marketed as a fashion item, several practical and medical uses have been reported, and presc ...
.
See also
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References
{{Authority control
Eyewear
Horse protective equipment
Protective gear
Swimming equipment
Virtual reality
Skiing equipment