New trend? Sunglasses to make your day look brighter

If you’ve ever found yourself staring out at an inspiring natural vista and wondering how much better all those trees and mountains would look if you could just tweak the colours a bit — adding a little shade there and a little highlight here — then you may want to check out Tens, photo-filter-inspired sunglasses (via The Telegraph) that boost the colour palette of the natural world.

Created by three Edinburgh based designers, Tens purport to filter the world outside via a “sense-heightening lens tint,” according to the marketing.

“Whilst typical sunglasses block out the light with desaturated, cold colours; Tens work with the warmth of the sun to lend an uplifting tint to the world beyond the lens.”

Basically the sunglasses give whatever the wearer is looking at — your boyfriend’s stubble, or your Yorkie’s pouting puss — a handpainted aesthetic. As Telegraph writer Scott Campbell suggests, the view is not unlike the kind of tint offered by the popular online photo-sharing app Instagram.

To gauge interest for the tech-inspired sunglasses, the designers went the crowd-sourcing route, creating a page on the popular funding page Indiegogo.

Interest is clearly high in altering nature’s colour choices via your shades. The trio’s initial fundraising goal was £9,400 ($17, 284 CAD). They’ve so far raised £122,980 ($226, 118.99 CAD).

The sunglasses, which look like your standard hipster-y cool shades (think an exaggerated take on RayBan’s classic Wayfarers), come in four colours and retail for around $66 CAD. The shades are also practical, offering UV400 protection.