Spectacles that could cure a person’s colour blindness and allow them to see the full spectrum for the first time have been developed by scientists.

The high tech glasses help those with "red-green deficiency", an inability to see some red and green colours.

The genetic abnormality is estimated to affect about 10 per cent of all adult men and a small number of women.

The invention by 2AI Labs, an American research institute, has been produced based on years of research into how human sight has evolved, the Times reported.

The Labs reportedly developed several different pairs of glasses that could enhance the ability to see "oxygenated blood" in the skin.

Scientists originally thought the spectacles, which feature special "Oxy-Iso" lenses, could be used for medical purposes such as identifying veins before blood donation or identifying bruising.

But they found that people with the “red-green” colour-blindness could also use them to fix their condition.

"If you squeeze your hand in front of you and let go, you'll see these yellow spots where the blood has been squeezed out and reddishpurple spots where the blood is pooling," Mark Changizi, an evolutionary neurobiologist behind the project, told the Times.

"Those are changes in the concentration of the blood."

In 2006, the author of Harnessed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man, suggested humans had evolved the ability to observe subtle changes in skin colour.

"Most mammals — your dog, horse, bunny — have two dimensions of colour,"he told another website.

"A yellow-blue dimension, and a grayscale (or brightness) dimension. Some of us primates, however, have an extra dimension of colour vision: The red-green dimension."

Daniel Bor, from the University of Sussex, said the glasses allowed him to pass the so-called “Ishihara Colour Test”, in which patients are shown plates that feature a circle of dots.

Experts say those who are colour-blind cannot make out numbers within the dots.

Glasses with Oxy-Iso lenses are already on sale, with a pair costing $279 (£178).

But while the lenses enhance the ability to see reds and greens, they also downgrade the ability to see yellows and blues.

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Despite what we've been told, finding the perfect pair of glasses doesn't depend on face shape alone.

Someone with a rounder visage can rock a round frame just as well as someone with a square-shaped face. It's just a matter of choosing the glasses that complement you the best.

But if that seems overwhelming, don't worry — it doesn't mean you have to try on every pair in the store to know which frames you want to take home with you.

Looking for answers, we visited the SoHo showroom of Warby Parker, an online retailer of glasses, where the company's style experts gave us some foolproof guidelines for finding the perfect pair of glasses.

First decide if you have a smaller or larger face. Smaller faces look better with smaller frames, and vice versa.

Left: Thatcher, Right: Neville

Decide how thick you want your glasses to be. Thinner frames won't detract from your features, but thicker frames are a bold and trendy choice.

Left: Edison, Right: Huxley

Next decide if you want wide or narrow sides. Sometimes bold fronts can be accompanied by thin sides, which can change the look entirely.

Left: Neville, Right: Huxley

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Eyeglass company Warby Parker is leading a direct-to-consumer renaissance. 

Empowered by the Internet, Warby and other e-commerce companies have cut out the middleman and offer products that are both premium and affordable. 

In addition to its online presence, the company has a showroom at its headquarters in Soho. Customers can try out their glasses right across the room from the person who will process their order. 

The company's new flagship store in New York, which utilizes Wi-Fi and other technologies, also compliments Warby Parker's e-commerce strategy.

"Warby Parker is building the next generation retail experience for a quantified society, one that marries the digital and the physical, data and emotion," explained Om Malik at GigaOm. 

We took a tour of Warby Parker's showroom. 

The Warby Parker showroom is just south of W. Houston Street on Lafayette in NYC's SoHo neighborhood.

The building has this cool lobby decorated with artwork, and you have to sign in to go upstairs.

Here we are! The 5th floor is Warby's corporate office and showroom.

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This is Travelteq's newly released Pocchiali glasses case.

Why We Love It: This case is hand-made in Amsterdam from Italian silk. It works as a glasses holder that fits snugly in your jacket pocket, and even looks like a pocket square thanks to the fabric.

Each design has a reversible hue on the inside, and there are eight different color combinations including green, blue, yellow, and red.

It measures approximately 3 x 7 inches, and is a handy accessory to have this summer so you don't lose your sunglasses.

Where To Buy: Available through Travelteq.

Cost: $79.

Want to nominate a cool product for Stuff We Love? Send an email to Megan Willett at mwillett@businessinsider.com with "Stuff We Love" in the subject line.

SEE ALSO: Learn To Cook In Your Own Kitchen In Just 4 Weeks

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The stylish eyewear of stars from Elton John to Audrey Hepburn has become iconic in its own right.

Inspired by those stylish glasses wearers, designer Frederico Mauro created a series of pictures of famous frames worn by actors, musicians, directors, and activists.

We turned a few of our favorites into a quiz (you can see the rest at Mauro's website).

How many frames do you recognize?

Let's start easy: Which young (fictional) wizard was famous for these glasses?

Why, it's Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe)!

Which legendary actress hid behind these frames in her famous movie as an "American Geisha"?

When Neil Blumenthal and his friends started Warby Parker, they wanted to disrupt the optical industry.

But they never expected to do it so quickly.

In three years, Warby Parker has built a recognizable brand with over 300 employees managing a successful online business and retail stores and showrooms in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Despite the fast-changing company dynamics, the four co-founders – Andrew Hunt, Jeffrey Raider, David Gilboa and Blumenthal – came up with ways to keep each other in check, and to make sure they made collective decisions about the direction of the company.

We interviewed Blumenthal about the strategies his team used to get exposure and expand the company, and how betting against their original idea about an online-only business has paid off tremendously.

Produced by Kamelia Angelova & Robert Libetti. Additional camera by Justin Gmoser

SEE ALSO: Going To The Doctor Hurts Less Thanks To Masimo's Noninvasive Breakthroughs

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Seven a.m. You hit snooze, wake up, get dressed and brush your teeth. You comb your hair, throw in your contacts, slug some coffee and leave for the day. That quick minute devoted to putting in your contacts may seem as routine and insignificant as choosing a travel mug for your coffee. But think about it: You are placing a custom-fitted, doctor-prescribed plastic device on your fragile mucus membrane, likely allowing you to see your best.

"Give the contact lens respect," says Christine Sindt, an optometrist in Iowa City, Iowa. Contacts are so commonplace and frequently used that we sometimes don't see them as a medical device, she says, although that's exactly what they are. And while she believes contacts are a wonderful invention — if not a luxury — "when things go wrong, they go very, very wrong and can be visually devastating." Think infections, which can range from redness and oozing to vision problems possibly leading to blindness. No thanks. Contact wearers, avoid these common mistakes to maintain healthy eyes and vision.

1. You don't wash your hands before handling your lenses. Hand washing is the most important step in keeping your contact lenses and eyes healthy, says Sindt, who is also an associate professor of clinical ophthalmology and director of the Contact Lens Service at the University of Iowa. Think about all the germy things you touch throughout the day— countertops, door handles, keyboards. Their microbes will transfer from your fingers to your contact lens and then to your eye. This can cause huge problems for your eyes, like nasty infections that may damage your sight.

So get washing. Right before handling your contact lenses, wash your hands thoroughly with a clear soap that's free of residues, like moisturizers, Sindt says. And a five-second rinse doesn't cut it. As you're scrubbing, Sindt suggests singing the entire birthday song (silently, if you prefer). The length of this song is about how long you should be washing your hands.

After washing and before touching your contacts, dry your hands with a lint-free towel. Water and its microbes are no good for our eyes.

2. You don't completely replace yesterday's contact solution. Instead, you leave the old liquid in the little bowls and top it offwith a squirt of fresh solution. You're not alone in this offense. Of the 1,000 contact wearers polled for a recent study conducted by Wakefield Research for Alcon, 96 percent admitted to frequently reusing or topping off old solution. Here's the problem: When a contact sits and soaks in solution, the mixture becomes depleted of its organism-killing biocide, rendering it ineffective for disinfecting your lenses, Sindt says. Opt for only fresh solution with every use, and don't fill the wells of the case with just enough solution to submerge the lenses. Fill the entire bowls with solution to fully disinfect the contacts.

3. You skip the rub. After you take out your contacts, before plopping in that super fresh, filled-to-the brim solution, give them each a little five-second rub between your fingers, Sindt says. This rub will help remove deposits that have become stuck to the lens.

4. You wear a pair of contacts for a longer amount of time than you should. Although contacts are prescribed medical devices, 84 percent of the participants in the Alcon poll said they wear their contacts longer than the recommended time. Whether it's every day or after 10 wears, replace your contacts as frequently as your doctor tells you to avoid irritated, possibly infected, eyes.

5. You rinse your lens case with water (or not at all). Each day, dump out the used solution, rinse the case with contact solution and wipe it out with a clean towel after every use. Then store the case with its caps removed. "Anything that can live in your eye will not live in a dry contact lens case," Sindt says. "When you just have your old solution in there with the caps on, it's just like a little petri dish."

6. You pop your contact lens in your mouth when if falls out. Just about every contact wearer has been there: Your lens falls out while you're away from home. It's a tricky problem if you don't have solution, a spare lens or a pair of glasses nearby. Besides being prepared with these items stored at your office, car or purse, there are no great solutions to this problem. But there is one terrible idea. In perhaps a quick attempt to lubricate the lens, many folks will put it in their mouth before sticking it back into their eye. Given that our spit has about 60,000 bacteria per drop, Sindt identifies this solution as "the worst possible thing you can do."

7. You use generic contact lens solutions. "The generic versions aren't formulated with today's contact lens materials in mind," Sindt says, adding that many of these generic solutions were formulated decades ago. Talk with your doctor to identify which solution works best with your specific lenses. If your solution isn't compatible, you may end up with dry, red, itchy eyes or contacts that don't last as long.

SEE ALSO: 13 Nutrition Lies That Made The World Sick And Fat

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OrCam are smart glasses that can read any text out loud – from newspaper articles to product labels, and even hand-written notes – with the help of a camera that can decipher letters and a microphone that attach to the glass frame.

This futuristic gadget can also interpret colors and situations such as whether the light on a street crossing is red or green.  

Yonatan Wexler of OrCam gave a fascinating presentation at the  DLD conference last month about this new product that will be a game-changer for the visually impaired.

Many thanks to our friends at DLD for giving us permission to publish this presentation.

WATCH ALSO: Essential Tips To Make Google Search Better And Faster

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Ever forget your glasses and need to see something, like read a menu or a text on your phone? Here's an awesome trick posted on YouTube from Minutephysics.

First you make a fist. Then open your fist just enough to create a tiny hole. Then peer through the hole at the object. Voila! You can see. You can even read. You don't look like the coolest person in the room reading through your fist, but it works.

It works because limiting light to the eyeball increases focus, Minutephysics explains. Looking through pinholes is not a practical way to correct your vision full-time, as it also  limits peripheral vision, which is why we invented glasses and contacts.

Still, it works in a pinch. And that's why this video has gotten so popular on YouTube.

Take a peek for yourself:

SEE ALSO: This is what happened when I tried to use Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX tablet for work

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In the hills of Portola Valley, California, is the headquarters for Meta, a company that's trying to change the future and also, perhaps, the world. 

They're hoping to accomplish this feat by creating a pair of augmented-reality glasses that bring to life technology that seems to be taken straight out of the "Iron Man" movies.

Physical objects are rendered virtually, and those objects — be it a game or a document or even a keyboard — are all manipulated by your hands.

A team of fewer than 50 people lives on a 20-acre rented estate overlooking the wilderness above Silicon Valley.

It's something out of a movie, with a pool, a tennis court, and even pictures of Tony Stark of "Iron Man" fame adorning the walls. 

The team lives together on the estate, putting in 14-hour days, and then eating together and afterwards washing dishes together. All for the common goal of bringing to life a pair of glasses that can completely change the way we think of computing. 

Through these gates is a driveway that leads up to Meta's campus.

Portola Valley is a little bit west of Stanford University, which is about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The house is located about 15 minutes off the freeway, up a windy road.

Next door is the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, which oversees one of the largest collections of historical military vehicles in the world.

Google Glass has been on the heads of early adopters, doctors, teachers, and just about anyone willing to shell out $1,500 for the wearable device for roughly two years, but we still have yet to hear about when, if ever, the headset will officially launch to the public. 

Google Glass is still technically in its prototype phase. Outside of tech conferences and Google's Glass basecamps, chances are you'll rarely run into anyone wearing Google's thousand-dollar gadget for your face.

According to Babak Parviz, a director at Google X who formerly lead the Glass team and is credited with creating the headset, it could be more than a decade before wearable technology generally becomes the norm.

"My guess is, 15 years from now, walking down the street, there will be people walking around with something on their head," he said at Tuesday's Wearable Technologies Conference according to CNET. 

That's not to say people won't adopt Glass or other wearable technology before then. But based on Parviz's words, it seems it may take around 15 years for the technology to truly become mainstream. 

Parviz emphasized that Glass "still has a long way to go," according to CNET, which also noted that Parviz wasn't wearing Glass on stage. 

"This is a nice first step to where we want to go," Parviz said at the conference. "We can see glimmers of how this might work out." 

Google Glass has claimed most of the spotlight when it comes to wearable displays, but Parviz admitted it's not — and shouldn't be — the only device of its kind.

"Google Glass is one answer to that question," he said at the conference. "It's not necessarily the definitive answer."

Although most everyday consumers still haven't tried Glass, the heads-up display has already encountered its fair share of controversy. Some bars have banned patrons from wearing the gadget due to privacy concerns, and self-proclaimed anti-Glass activists have created a website dedicated to protesting Glass. The website, Stop The Cyborgs, offers signs for businesses to print and hang outside their establishment to show that Glass isn't welcome.

At the same time, professionals are already using Glass to do some remarkable things. Google just announced the winners of its Giving Through Glass competition, which recognizes five impressive nonprofits and awards them with their own set of Glass, a $25,000 grant, and a trip to Google's headquarters to check out the Glass basecamp. One winner, the Hearing and Speech Agency, will be using Glass to explore new ways to help individuals with communication issues. 

SEE ALSO: Here's What I Learned About Google Glass After Hanging Out With A Bunch Of Early Adopters

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When most people picture a stereotypical nerd, they think of glasses and a pocket protector. Turns out there may be some truth behind that idea. New research suggests that number of years of study is more important than genetics in whether or not a person becomes nearsighted.

A study of 5,000 German residents found that individuals with more years of schooling were more likely to be nearsighted – and were more severely nearsighted – than people with less education.

The study, published online in the journal Ophthalmology, found that education level was more important than genetics in predicting whether a person would develop myopia or nearsightedness. Both words describe a vision condition where distant objects are blurry.

"We are surprised because about 50 years ago myopia was thought to be almost completely determined by genetics," said Alireza Mirshahi, an ophthalmologist and researcher at the University Medical Center Mainz in Germany. "We see that genetic factors do play a role but the role of environmental factors is much more important."

Nearsightedness usually develops during elementary and secondary school. Studies dating all the way back to the late 1800s and early 1900s have linked myopia to higher education and activities that require focus on nearby objects, such as reading or sewing. But the root cause of myopia is still a topic of speculation among scientists. 

A 2009 study found that in the United States nearsightedness had risen from 25 percent of the population to about 41 percent during the past four decades. The condition has reached almost epidemic proportions in certain East Asian countries where up to 90 percent of older schoolchildren have myopia. The rapid rise hints that lifestyle, instead of genetics, may be to blame.

The trend is concerning because eye appointments, prescription glasses and laser surgery cost time and money for affected individuals.

In the study, the researchers analyzed data from the Gutenberg Health Study, a large-scale research project looking at different aspects of health in German citizens, aged 35 to 74. Any participant who had not undergone corrective vision surgery received an eye exam and then the results were compared based on age, sex and education level.

The German school system provides a unique opportunity to look at education and nearsightedness. Students pursuing a trade can attend school for nine or 10 years, while students heading to university stay for 13. Researchers found that each additional year of schooling increased the person’s risk of being nearsighted. Of adults who completed nine years of school, about 27 percent were nearsighted, compared to about 41 percent of adults who finished 10 years. Fifty percent of participants who graduated after 13 years had the condition.

Not only were adults with more education more likely to be myopic, but, on average, they were more severely myopic than adults with less schooling.

But Mirshahi stresses that the study does not necessarily say that education is what warps the eyes. It can only find associations between length of schooling and nearsightedness.

"It doesn’t mean that someone who is not myopic is bad at school," he said.

"I think it’s very interesting," said Nina Jacobsen, an ophthalmologist and researcher at Glostrup University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. "It confirms the knowledge of what other studies have shown that there is this relationship between the length of education and the development -- and also to some degree the level -- of myopia."

In about 3,600 of the participants, researchers also looked at whether or not they carried certain gene types related to myopia. But compared to the number of years spent in school, a person’s genes had only a small effect on vision.  

The authors noted that they could not measure how much time each person spent outside. Some previous research suggests that outdoor exercise appears to protect the eyes from becoming nearsighted.

"Several studies around the world have shown that we are getting more and more myopic," said Mirshahi. "At the same time we are doing more and more near work. So it means spending more time reading, or looking at a computer or at a laptop or a smartphone may or probably will increase the chance of getting more nearsighted."

But not all scientists agree that our smartphones will skew our vision.

"The jury is really out on exactly what kinds of near work would put you higher risk than others," said Susan Vitale, an epidemiologist at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. "But I think almost everybody agrees that it would be good for kids to spend more time outside."

In future research, Mirshahi aims to test the connection between intelligence and nearsightedness. An earlier study conducted by Jacobsen found that myopic young men scored better on IQ tests than men with normal vision. The next study may show whether smart people just happen to be more nearsighted, or whether smart people are more likely to spend more time studying, which may lead to a prescription for glasses.

Though the glasses stereotype might hold true, there's still no word yet on whether more education increases the chances of wearing a pocket protector.

Patricia Waldron (@patriciawaldron) is a news intern at Inside Science.

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Earlier this month, Marques Brownlee, who posts tech reviews and explainers on his popular YouTube channel, showed off the alleged front panel for the next iPhone, presumably called iPhone 6. Brownlee said he obtained the part from the prolific Apple leaker Sonny Dickson.

Brownlee previously took keys and a knife to the 4.7-inch display, which reports said would be largely made of sapphire glass, the second-hardest material out there next to diamond. Brownlee scratched, scraped and stabbed — he even bent the display under his shoe — but was unable to impart any significant damage to the tiny screen.

But Brownlee refused to give up until he could prove this iPhone 6 display was truly indestructible.

In his latest video posted Friday, having done some more research on glass durability, Brownlee put the alleged iPhone 6 panel through more vigorous tests using the Mohs scale of material hardness.

Materials rated higher on that 1-10 scale can scratch any materials rated lower. The Gorilla Glass used for the iPhone 5S is rated at a 6.8, while the knife Brownlee used in his previous video only scored a 5.5 rating. Pure sapphire, which is used to cover Apple’s Touch ID button and the rear-facing camera lens in the iPhone 5S, is rated at a 9.0. 

For his second test, Brownlee used two kinds of high-quality sandpaper that are relatively high on the Mohs scale: Garnet, which scores about a 7.0 rating, and emery, which is about an 8.0 on that scale. He scratched the iPhone 6 front panel, but also the Gorilla Glass display from the iPhone 5S as a means of comparison.

Theoretically, if the iPhone 6 front panel were made of 100% sapphire, it would stand up to any scratching from the two rough pieces of sandpaper.

Unfortunately for Apple fans hoping for an “indestructible” screen, the alleged iPhone 6 panel did not stand up to the two pieces of sandpaper, which were both rated higher than Gorilla Glass on the Mohs scale but lower than pure sapphire.

However, the same sandpaper clearly did more damage to the iPhone 5S screen. In other words, the front panel for the iPhone 6 is definitely harder than the Gorilla Glass 3 used for the iPhone 5S, but you shouldn’t carry sandpaper in the same pocket as your iPhone anytime soon.

“That actually makes sense. Using a massive panel of pure sapphire for the front of a phone would be a little bit stupid. It would be, first of all, much more expensive, and it also wouldn’t be able to bend like it did. Believe it or not, you actually need your phone to be able to flex a little bit. So pure sapphire is still best in small parts like the Touch ID cover over the home button and the glass over the back of the iPhone 5S camera,” Brownlee says in the video.

As Brownlee points out, Apple has already patented a fusion process where the “sapphire structure may be mechanically modified to help reduce the likelihood of chipping or fracturing,” and “the resulting sapphire laminate may achieve both superior hardness and strength due to the use of multiple planes.” 

“Basically, it’s a composite involving sapphire to make it overall stronger than the Gorilla Glass of the previous iPhones, or many other phones out there. And it works, as you saw,” he adds.

Check out the full video, which ends with Brownlee finally destroying the iPhone 6 screen with a little help from his friends, including comedian Joe Rogan, a bow, and an arrow:

SEE ALSO: The best smartphones in the world

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Whether you wear prescription glasses or simply sunglasses, choosing the right frames for your face is a difficult task.

Here are some key tips from eyewear specialist Shannon Malone, a director of product marketing at Warby Parker, to find a pair that will complement your face. 

Produced by Matthew Stuart.

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Right now Google Glass doesn't really look anything like a regular pair of eyeglasses, but that could all change in the future.

The company was recently granted a patent for a new design that's much sleeker than the current model and resembles a standard pair of glasses.

Google has been trying to push Glass as a fashion accessory since it unveiled the device in 2012, but a more natural design like this could make it easier for consumers to adopt the product.

The drawings included in the patent (via 9to5Google) show a pair of smart glasses with a smaller glass prism that's closer to your eyes than the one in today's version of Google Glass.

This glass prism serves as a miniature projector that displays images and text in the top corner of your right eye. In the patent's sketches, this prism appears to be a bit smaller and more discrete. 

The wearable display shown in Google's patent is a noticeable improvement that could make wearable computing more natural, but it's still slightly bulkier than regular glasses. If you take a closer look at the side of the device, you'll notice that they're much thicker than normal glasses. That's likely because Google would need to pack all the computing components, such as the processor and memory, in this area.

While Google may be working on new solutions and designs of its own, other tech companies are developing technology that could make augmented reality fit even more seamlessly into your glasses. Vuzix and Nokia's Waveguide lens, for example, looks almost exactly like a regular lens you'd see in today's eyeglasses, but it's capable of displaying full color 720p images in the corner of your eye.

We haven't seen them in any consumer products yet, but Vuzix is already using Waveguide for V2000AR glasses for industrial workers.

In the near future, wearable displays could seem as normal as wearing a pair of sunglasses. In a previous interview with Business Insider, Soulaiman Itani, co-founder and Chief Scientist at Atheer Labs, said these types of devices may only be three or four years away. 

There's no telling if we'll ever see a version of Google Glass that looks like this since it's just a patent, but it's still interesting to see what Google is experimenting with. 

SEE ALSO: Here's What I Learned About Google Glass After Hanging Out With A Bunch of Early Adopters

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The days of spending hundreds of dollars on eyewear should be over, thanks to a slew of online outlets that can build and ship prescription glasses to you for less than a C-note. In the past few years, competition has brought prices down, and a virtual-try-on feature is common.

A couple caveats before you start: Few of the brands do bifocals or progressives, and almost all the frames you'll find are of the sturdier acetate variety. We tested four services and recommend them all. Each has a liberal return policy, so it's worth getting a few pairs made up front and sending back what you don't like — even those outfitted with your prescription lenses.

1. Lookmatic

The styling of Lookmatic's 21 men's frames is more modern than retro. A live 3-D try-on using your computer's cam can help you find the right fit. We were impressed by the quality of the frames – not so much by the cheap-seeming tints. Stick to clear lenses here. [Rx eyewear, $95; Rx tinted lenses, $95; lookmatic.com]

2. Lookmatic's Austin Frames

For a classic look, try on a pair of Lookmatic's Austin frames in tortoise. [$95; lookmatic.com]

3. Lookmatic's Uncle Leonard Frames

Sure, they're not for every guy. But the Uncle Leonard frames from Lookmatic make a style statement that can be refreshing in a sea of darker glasses. [$95; lookmatic.com]

RELATED: The Best Sunglasses for Men

4. Warby Parker

The gorilla of online glasses boasts nearly double the selection of the others (60 frames) and the most polished customer service, even nudging us to update our prescription. Its try-on kit ships quickly, but sunglasses are pricey. [Rx eyewear, $95; polarized Rx sunglasses, $150; warbyparker.com]

5. Warby Parker's Watts Frames

If you want round eyeglasses (but not too round), Warby Parker's Watts frames provide a subtle shape and come in three different shades. [$95; warbyparker.com]

6. Warby Parker's Durand Frames

For the guy who wants to stand out just the right amount, Warby Parker's Durand frames offer a two-tone option. [$95; warbyparker.com]

7. Classic Specs

Based in Brooklyn, Classic Specs offers 29 men's designs with a throwback style that's very much of the borough. Like Warby, it can send try-ons with dummy lenses, but the return policy makes skipping that stage worry-free. [Rx eyewear, $89; polarized Rx sunglasses, $139; classicspecs.com]

8. Classic Specs' Duke Frames

The Duke frames from Classic Specs come in three shades and offer a style that works on most face shapes. [$89; classicspecs.com]

RELATED: 9 Best Sunglasses for Every Activity

9. Classic Specs' Prescott Frames

Not too round, not too square - the Prescott frames from Classic Specs come in shades such as Brandy Tortoise, Smoulder, Matte Black, and Dark and Stormy. [$89; classicspecs.com]

10. Mezzmer

This outfit has 26 men's frames, most with a modern vintage sheen. Mezzmer is dirt cheap, but the frames don't seem it. Its prescription sunglasses are inexpensive – perfect if you frequently misplace yours. [Rx eyewear, $69; polarized Rx sunglasses, $119; mezzmer.com]

11. Mezzmer's Big Easy Frames

Mezzmer's Big Easy frames pair structure and a modern edge. Our favorite shade? Ash. [$69; mezzmer.com]

12. Mezzmer's Manhattan Frames

Mezzmer's Manhattan style frames meet in the middle. And what's better - the tortoise shade looks good on every guy. [$69; mezzmer.com]

More from Men's Journal:

How to Choose the Right Sunglasses for Your Face Shape

The Best New Men's Watches

The Best Men’s Dress Shoes For Under $200

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You don't choose the size of your nose, the color of your eyes, or the fullness of your brow (at least without the assistance of a plastic surgeon), but what you can do is accessorize those features with a great pair of glasses.

Russell Westbrook, owner of a nice face to begin with, often opts to accent his features with colorful specs (see: here, here, and here).

Taking his love affair with eyewear a step further, he recently launched his own line, Westbrook Fames, which has now partnered with JackThreads for a new line of shades, all coming in under $100.

For thoughts on how best to frame the windows of your soul, we hit up Westbrook for some specific helpful tips.

Okay, so how often should a man purchase new glasses? I like to get new glasses and sunglasses every time the season changes, but I think if you have one classic pair and one cool, swaggy pair then you will be set.

When a dude puts on a pair of glasses and looks in the mirror, what should he look for? I think it's important to see if they are straight on your face and if they fit your face. If you have a small face and the glasses are really big then it might not look right.

Who do you ask for a second opinion when shopping for glasses? Ask a sales clerk, your friends, family, or even a random person walking in the store. I've done that plenty of times—just ask a complete stranger their opinion.

You have a lot of colorful plastic glasses in your collection. Why? How do I know what color is right for me? It's important to have a variety. I like to wear different colored frames based on what I'm wearing and what colors I have on. Plastic glasses are more affordable so people can own more frames in different colors.

Have you ever lost a pair of glasses you loved? I was actually in a store trying on new glasses and I took off my pair and left them on the counter. I didn't even get out of the store when I realized I forgot them but when I turned around they were gone. I think someone stole them and I was so mad!

When is it okay to wear sunglasses inside and when is it not? It's based on your own swag. If you feel comfortable wearing sunglasses inside then go for it!

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Choose your own adventure: You’re at a party, trying to have a good time, when someone brings up "War and Peace."

Finding yourself caught in the middle of a conversation about a book you haven’t read, do you: (A) listen quietly, (B) leave the area, or (C) say something about the book anyway, in an effort to seem smart?

When 2,000 Britons were polled last year about tactics they’d used to try to appear more intelligent, 62 percent of them confessed to having chosen option C.

Indeed, according to the survey (a promotional stunt by the nerd-loving TV show "The Big Bang Theory"), lying about having read classic books was the most popular strategy for appearing smarter. Another strategy identified by the survey, wearing glasses, appears to be surprisingly effective.

Figures released in 2011 by the College of Optometrists, in the UK, show that 43 percent of the people it surveyed believe glasses make a person look more intelligent.

But you may not need glasses if you’re beautiful. A Czech study found that certain facial features — narrow faces, long noses, and thin chins — correlated with both perceived intelligence and attractiveness.

Interestingly, men who were considered smart-looking actually tended to have higher IQs; the same was not true for women [1].

Other ways to signal intelligence without opening your mouth include walking at the same pace as those around you. Subjects in one study rated a person moving faster or slower than “normal human walking speed” as less competent and intelligent [2].

Speaking of incompetence: don’t drink in public, at least not at work functions. The perceived association between alcohol and stupid behavior is so strong, according to a 2013 study, that merely holding a beer makes you appear dumber [3].

How you write matters, too — particularly how you write your name. Middle initials apparently lend a person a certain cachet. Participants in a study published this year rated writing samples more favorably when the author’s name included a middle initial; they also presumed people with middle initials to be of higher social status than their uninitialed peers [4]. 

Typing your initial in the Comic Sans font, though, could ruin the whole thing: A Princeton researcher found that a hard-to-read font made an author seem dumber, while a clean, simple typeface (Times New Roman, in the study) made him or her seem more intelligent.

The same researcher also looked at how using big words (a classic strategy for impressing others) affects perceived intelligence. Counterintuitively, grandiose vocabulary diminished participants’ impressions of authors’ cerebral capacity [5]. Put another way: simpler writing seems smarter.

The Studies:

[1] Kleisner et al., “Perceived Intelligence Is Associated With Measured Intelligence in Men but Not Women” (PLOS One, March 2014)

[2] Morewedge et al., “TimeScale Bias in the Attribution of Mind” (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, July 2007)

[3] Rick and Schweitzer, “The Imbibing Idiot Bias” (Journal of Consumer Psychology, April 2013)

[4] Van Tilburg and Igou, “The Impact of Middle Names” (European Journal of Social Psychology, June 2014)

[5] Oppenheimer, “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity” (Applied Cognitive Psychology, March 2006)

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Some people are indeed born smarter than others — it's genetics. 

But that doesn't mean you can't appear to look more intelligent. 

Don't hold a beer.

People often do idiotic things after they've had too many drinks. 

No wonder that even holding a beer makes you look less intelligent, according to a joint study by the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania.

"People who hold an alcoholic beverage are perceived to be less intelligent than those who do not, a mistake we term the imbibing idiot bias," write authors Scott Rick and Maurice Schweitzer. 

Walk at the same speed as everybody else.

A study led by Boston University marketing professor Carey Morewedge found that "people use speed of movement to infer the presence of mind ... in other persons." 

So if you walk faster — or slower — than the people around you, they think you're stupid.

Put on thick glasses.

Research suggests that if you're wearing glasses, you'll appear less attractive but more intelligent. 

Moreover, the kind of glasses matters: Thick, blocky frames make you look smarter than thin ones. 

Go hipster, look smart.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is reaching epidemic proportions.

In the US, over 40 percent of the population needs glasses; estimates suggest that one-third of the world’s population will be nearsighted by the end of the decade.

Myopia can usually be treated easily with glasses, contact lenses or surgery, but even still nearsighted people are at a higher risk for glaucoma, retinal detachment, and cataracts.

The condition’s sheer pervasiveness has made researchers wonder about its cause. Now, scientists think they have a good understanding of why the condition has become more common: young people are spending too much time indoors, according to a report published today in Nature.

Studies among twins in the 1960s showed researchers that DNA influences nearsightedness. But information from as far back as 400 years ago indicated that genes weren’t the whole story—astronomer Johannes Kepler thought his own poor vision stemmed from keeping his nose in a book for so many years. More recent research has corroborated Kepler’s hypothesis: the rise in myopia syncs up with a stronger emphasis on education, especially in East Asia.

In China, almost 90 percent of teenagers and young adults are nearsighted (compared to 10 to 20 percent 60 years ago), and it’s no coincidence that the average 15-year-old in Shanghai spends 14 hours per week doing homework. Last year, German researchers found that students who attended more years in school had a much higher rate of myopia than did their less academic peers.

Myopia experts haven’t reached a consensus about how exactly to slow the rising tide of nearsightedness. But one Australian researcher found that kids could maintain healthy vision by spending three hours per day in light of 10,000 lux or more — the same amount of light a person would see wearing sunglasses on a bright day.

(For comparison, a well-lit classroom is usually no more than 500 lux.) Many researchers agree that kids who spend more time outside will maintain good vision for much longer, plus the physical activity could stave off obesity and improve mood.

The work has sparked a number of East Asian countries to start public health campaigns designed to get kids outside.

This article originally appeared on Popular Science

This article was written by Alexandra Ossola from Popular Science and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

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