Glasses, also known as eyeglasses, spectacles, or colloquially as specs, are vision eyewear with clear or tinted lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms, known as temples or temple pieces, that rest over the ears for support. Glasses are typically used for vision correction, such as with reading glasses and glasses used for nearsightedness; however, without the specialized lenses, they are also at times used for cosmetic purposes. Wearers may use straps tied to their glasses to prevent them from falling off. Wearers of glasses that are used only part of the time may have the glasses attached to a cord that goes around their neck to prevent the loss and breaking of the glasses. The earliest ancestors of modern eyeglasses were 13th-century Italian "reading stones". Due to the objects having no arms, wearers had to hold these magnifying spheres directly over their books. The familiar temple arms that hook over a wearer's ears were not invented until the 1700s. Safety glasses are eye protection, a form of personal protective equipment (PPE) that are worn by workers around their eyes for protection. Safety glasses act as a shield to protect the eyes from any type of foreign debris that may cause irritation or injury; these glasses may have protection on the sides of the eyes as well as in the lenses. Some types of safety glasses are used to protect against visible and near-visible light or radiation. Glasses are worn for eye protection in some sports, such as squash. Sunglasses allow for better vision in bright daylight and are used to protect one's eyes against damage from excessive levels of ultraviolet light. Typical sunglasses lenses are tinted for protection against bright light or polarized to remove glare; photochromic glasses are clear or lightly tinted in dark or indoor conditions, but turn into sunglasses when they come into contact with ultraviolet light. Most over-the-counter sunglasses do not have corrective power in the lenses; however, special prescription sunglasses can be made. People with conditions that have photophobia as a primary symptom (like certain migraine disorders) often wear sunglasses or precision tinted glasses, even indoors and at night. Specialized glasses may be used for viewing specific visual information, for example, 3D glasses for 3D films (stereoscopy). Sometimes glasses are worn purely for fashion or aesthetic purposes. Even with glasses used for vision correction, a wide range of fashions are available, using plastic, metal, wire, and other materials for frames. Most glasses lenses are made of plastic, polyethylene, and glass.
Types Glasses can be marked or found by their primary function, but also appear in combinations such as prescription sunglasses or safety glasses with enhanced magnification.
Corrective
Corrective lenses are used to correct refractive errors by bending the light entering the eye in order to alleviate the effects of conditions such as nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hypermetropia) or astigmatism. The ability of one's eyes to accommodate their focus to near and distant focus alters over time. A common condition in people over forty years old is presbyopia, which is caused by the eye's crystalline lens losing elasticity, progressively reducing the ability of the lens to accommodate (i.e. to focus on objects close to the eye). Few people have a pair of eyes that show exactly equal refractive characteristics; one eye may need a "stronger" (i.e. more refracting) lens than the other. Corrective lenses bring the image back into focus on the retina. They are made to conform to the prescription of an ophthalmologist or optometrist. A lensmeter can be used to verify the specifications of an existing pair of glasses. Corrective glasses can significantly improve the life quality of the wearer. Not only do they enhance the wearer's visual experience, but can also reduce problems that result from eye strain, such as headaches or squinting. The most common type of corrective lens is "single vision", which has a uniform refractive index. For people with presbyopia and hyperopia, bifocal and trifocal glasses provide two or three different refractive indices, respectively, and progressive lenses have a continuous gradient. For children, near-sighted (myopia) control lenses involve use of special lenses that assist to slow down the progression of myopia from growing further. Lenses can also be manufactured with high refractive indices, which allow them to be more lightweight, flatter and thinner than their counterparts with "low" refractive indices. High-Refractive Index lenses are aesthetically more appealing too. Reading glasses provide a separate set of glasses for focusing on close by objects. They are available without prescription from drugstores, and offer a cheap, practical solution, though these have a pair of simple lenses of equal power, and so will not correct refraction problems like astigmatism or refractive or prismatic variations between the left and right eye. For the total correction of the individual's sight, glasses complying to a recent ophthalmic prescription are required. People who need glasses to see often have corrective lens restrictions on their driver's licenses that require them to wear their glasses every time they drive or risk fines or jail time. Some militaries issue prescription glasses to servicemen and women. These are typically GI glasses. Many state prisons in the United States issue glasses to inmates, often in the form of clear plastic aviators. Adjustable-focus glasses might be used to replace bifocals or trifocals, or might be used to produce cheaper single-vision glasses (since they do not have to be custom-manufactured for every person).
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