If Google's glasses are to prove an exception to that rule, the firm will have to meet several challenges.
The device, which is clipped to a reader's glasses, buzzes when a book is brought too close to the face.
Pte Manning's glasses were confiscated, he had to request toilet paper and was forced to remove his underwear at night.
Some hope that Elton John's glasses (1976 vintage) will ultimately prove at least as valuable as a William and Mary table.
Google's glasses reflect a growing interest in wearable computing, which many experts think could be the next big thing in personal technology after smartphones and tablets.
Unfortunately, Vizio hasn't committed to a 2013 release date for glasses-free 3D, but the rest of the lineup, set to debut later this year, will still have the firm's glasses-dependent passive 3D technology.
ENGADGET: Vizio's XVT Ultra HDTVs to bring 4K and glasses-free 3D to the masses, we go eyes-on
Felix de Paula was an 18-year-old Army private stationed at the secret New Mexico outpost when he was aroused from sleep in the pre-dawn hours that July morning and handed a pair of welder's glasses.
Since leaving Brookside Close, she has appeared in The Heart Surgeon, with John Thaw, and has just completed a theatre tour of Shangalang as well as appearing in Elton John's Glasses in the West End.
The 55ZL2's glasses-free 3D application is powered by Toshiba's high-performance multi-processor platform CEVO-ENGINE which also allows for many more innovative applications including PERSONAL-TV, enabling the consumer to personalise TV settings, and SMART-TV applications such as USB recording and access to Toshiba Places.
ENGADGET: Toshiba's glasses-free 3D 4K2K TV launches in Europe as the ZL2 this December
However, the glasses have a special button that makes both lenses of one player's glasses display images for the left eye, and both lenses of another player display images for the right, allowing each to have their own 60fps feed all the time for private split-screen gaming.
ENGADGET: Sony's 24-inch PlayStation 3D 'dual-view' monitor: here's how it works
Developers working on apps for Google's smart glasses have been told they will not be allowed to place advertising within the device's display.
Due to the use of Film Patterned Retarder (FPR) technology, LG's 3D glasses are battery-free, lightweight and inexpensive, making them ideal for watching 3D content in large groups and comfortably for longer periods of time.
ENGADGET: LG unveils new 3D glasses, hopes lighter and better looking spectacles drive adoption
Instead, the man who sat down on Letterman's couch was a disheveled character with a hobo's beard and dark glasses, mumbling incoherent answers to the host's questions.
Nintendo's aversion to glasses could also rule out 3-D coming to its home console systems.
This feature is enabled by Samsung's special 3D glasses, which come with personal speakers built in, providing clear stereo sound for the corresponding program.
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Epson's 3D display glasses, the Moverio BT-100 have been floating around as a development platform for a couple years, and APX Labs is the latest to hack the headset.
Despite the growth in 3D television sales, the requirement to wear 3D glasses has loomed as one of the most significant barriers to adoption. 3-D Vision's technology still requires glasses, at least for now.
Dispense of Espoo's rose-colored glasses and the case for this middle of the road Lumia becomes somewhat clearer.
The Android mobile operating system is already expanding beyond smartphones and tablets to smart TVs, cameras and Google's Project Glass smart glasses.
But Nintendo's cooling attitude toward glasses-free 3-D signals a deeper problem: Even once you remove the pesky glasses, the novelty of 3-D wears off.
In addition, the Home Cinema 750HD features Epson's latest RF 3D glasses that last up to 40 hours or up to three hours with a new three-minute quick charge.
That should sound familiar to fans of Google Glass, but by using Epson's binocular displays, these smart glasses can convey depth in a way Mountain View's monocle cannot. (Not to mention that Glass doesn't even do AR apps... yet).
Baidu, China's largest search engine, is working on its own smart glasses technology - similar to Google's Glass project.
GmbH announced the launch of the world's first large-screen glasses-free 3D TV.
ENGADGET: Toshiba's glasses-free 3D 4K2K TV launches in Europe as the ZL2 this December
Google got some time in the spotlight this week too, as the company's new augmented-reality glasses were trotted down the runway at New York Fashion Week.
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There's been no shortage of glasses-free 3D at CES but we can't say we expected Stream TV, makers of those Elocity tablets, to be showing off wares of its own.
ENGADGET: Stream TV Elocity 3T glasses-free TV eyes-on Hands-on
But she can't see Clayton Buller's eyes because of the dark glasses he wears, and DI Pendle doesn't seem to be alarmed.
Keep your ticker ticking It's easy to knock back several glasses of wine when you're sitting around the holiday table for long stretches of time, especially if you tell yourself that wine is good for your heart.
Ritz-Carlton's use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth.
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