Page 86 - Are You Future Ready?

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/ Wearables in the old days /

Wearable devices like spectacles have a long history.
There are different versions of its origins. Nearly
2,000 years ago, the ancient Roman Emperor Nero
(AD 37-68) used a concave lens made of emerald,
he is the first person on record to wear sunglasses.
In the 13th century, over one thousand years later,
the Italian priest Salvino D’Armato degli Armati was
authorised to produce glasses, then the product
started to become popular.
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It is also said that in the same period of time, there
was a book Dongtian Qinglu in the Southern Song
Dynasty in China, talking about jade, porcelain and
other antiques, the "ai dai” recorded here is actually a
pair of glasses: "The old man cannot distinguish the
fine prints, when he covers his eyes with ‘ai dai’, the
vision becomes clear." It is said that the “ai dai” were
as big as two copper coins; they were probably
glasses for reading. At that time, the Arabs who had
access to the most advanced technology were said
to have studied the manufacture of glasses in the
10th century.