Raise the roof! Inventor creates One Foot Taller ‘periscope glasses’ to help short people see over the crowds at music gigs
- A British inventor created unique glasses that allow people to see 30.5cm higher
- They were designed for people who struggle to see over crowds at music gigs
- The ingenious invention was part of D&AD's Extraordinary Solutions campaign
There’s nothing worse than going to a gig only to find yourself standing in the land of giants, where your only view of the stage comes and goes in fleeting glimpses, through the valley between bobbing heads and only by the grace of stooping necks.
However, a British inventor may have come up with an ingenious solution that can elevate, quite literally, eye-lines into a prime, unobstructed position.
Dominic Wilcox has created a pair of periscope glasses, called One Foot Taller, for Microsoft Surface’s Extraordinary Solutions project. The campaign is aimed at finding solutions for everyday problems.
They allow users to add one foot (30.5cm) to their line of sight and see the stage and performers without having to crane their necks or stand on tip-toes.
Dominic Wilcox has created a pair of periscope glasses, called One Foot Taller, that allow people to see as much as 30.5cm higher
Two sheets of mirrored acrylic, positioned at opposing 45-degree angles, are attached to either end of the stick, allowing users to see the action.
Wilcox, who studied at London’s Royal College of Art and whose other inventions have appeared in the windows of London’s Selfridges department store, wrote on his personal website that inspiration for the glasses came when he was at a gig and noticed a small woman struggling to see the band.
‘This gave me the inspiration to design a way for people to see over obstacles such as tall people like me.’
‘Some people get their thrills from bungee jumping or scoring a winning goal at Wembley but I get mine from coming up with creative ideas,’ he told the Mirror.
The glasses are not yet available to buy, but they were exhibited at the Extraordinary Solutions to Everyday Problems at the D&AD Festival in London back in May.
Two sheets of mirrored acrylic, positioned at opposing 45-degree angles, are attached to either end of the stick, allowing users to see the action
The inventor’s sense of humour heavily influences his inventions’ designs.
Another of his inventions is ‘The Directing Jacket’, which was designed to solve the problem of being unsure of which side to walk on when someone is walking towards you.
Buttons on the jacket sleeves activate green LED arrows, allowing the wearer to direct the oncoming pedestrian to a specific side.
‘This may be a very niche problem but it must happen a million times a day around the world. That’s about 4 million seconds of time lost through dithering,’ Wilcox said on his site.
He added: 'I’ve tried it out on the streets of London and it seemed to help, I’ll never be late for anything again, unless the batteries run out.’
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