morrama develops wearable mixed-reality glasses that flash apps and running games on eyes

Meet issé, morrama’s wearable mixed-reality glasses

Industrial design studio Morrama conceptualizes a fashionable pair of wearable mixed-reality glasses called Issé that can display widgets, apps, health and stress status, and a digital twin for a running game with levels in the wearer’s field of vision. Alongside the virtual copy of the wearer, the scenery inside the mixed-reality glasses may have the possibility to shift in further developments, blurring the lines between reality and the fictional world.

When the user wants to go out for a run and puts on Issé, they can see their digital twin projected in front of them together with a series of hoops or ‘portals.’ As they try to chase their virtual copy, they jog through these hoops as if they were on a hunting mission. An intention behind developing the still-conceptual wearable mixed-reality glasses is to gamify running, exercise, and physical activities.

images courtesy of Morrama

Flashing apps like widgets on a smartwatch

By projecting the digital twin of the wearer in a seemingly digitally altered world, it may create a fun and experimental environment where they can get a chance to feel as if they were part of a futuristic game. Morrama describes it as running through a sci-fi scene where a series of otherworldly portals are seemingly projected into the world in front of the wearer as they chase down their digital twin. Alongside the sci-fi scenery, the wearer would be able to tailor the view behind Issé’s lenses to their own requirements, similar to widgets on a smartwatch. The mixed-reality screen they see may include notifications of daily health status to monitor their stress throughout the day.

The Morrama design team, which comprises Jo Barnard, the Founder and Creative Director, and Ben Melvin, the Design Lead, eyes to keep the visuals to a minimum to conserve battery life and allow for a lighter-weight lens. ‘Although we propose that a power cable could be attached to the arm of the frame if required. The sound would be transmitted via bone conduction in the arms of the frame,’ says the design team. With Issé, Morrama brings the wearer closer to the utopian sci-fi world brimming with wearable technology and augmented and virtual reality.

Morrama’s wearable mixed-reality glasses come with swappable frames and detachable lenses

swappable frames and detachable lenses for Issé

Morrama’s Issé draws inspiration from the Latin word ‘issa,’ which means ‘oneself,’ and turns the wearable mixed-reality glasses into personalized eyewear. The mixed-reality lenses can be detached from the frame of the glasses, and this is crucial to the design concept of the team since they devise two frames for the high-tech lenses. The first is a lightweight metallic frame with a bold neon strip while the other is a bone-colored structure with organic forms rising up through the geometric shape and holes.

Like a smartphone with a silicone case, the lenses can be pushed out of the frame to enable the wearer to swap the frame for the other. The idea is vital for the design team since this can enable easy upgrades and replacements for the lenses in case new sensors and updates arrive. With 95% of the electronics in the lens itself, the frame remains low-tech, and its shorter life-span makes it possible to manufacture from bio-materials that can break down or be digested by bacteria, enabling any embedded wires or sensors to be reclaimed.

the detachable lenses are vital since they allow easy upgrades for the lenses in case new sensors and updates arrive