How to record everything you see, with just a pair of glasses

Today, whether we want one or not, just about all of us have a video recorder: it’s built into the phone in our pocket. So the market for standalone camcorders has shifted to semi-professional models and those that offer a different perspective on events.

GoPro cameras, and a raft of cheaper rivals, which can he strapped to a handlebar, helmet or surfboard, have become hugely popular with adventure seekers - and now the more sedentary among us also have a device to call our own.

The Sunnycam Extreme caught my attention because I remember that at primary school, as we tried to imagine how the flickering pictures on our two-channel black-and-white TV sets might evolve into the technology of the future, our imagination was taken by the notion of a television camera you wore like a pair of glasses.

They would look almost like regular spectacles, but when you put them on, you would be able to discreetly record and broadcast what you saw and heard.

It has taken the best part of 60 years for the technology to arrive. The consolation is that it costs only £7 10s in the currency of the time.

Allowing for inflation, it’s now £150, but even so, the Sunnycam Extreme takes miniaturisation to impressive new levels. Looking only slightly more ostentatious than any other pair of designer shades, it packs in a high-definition camera, 16GB of storage and a built-in battery, capable of recording for around an hour.

That’s not a lot compared to a full-sized camcorder, but given that it records from your own perspective, it’s plenty. Only the most narcissistic could stand much more.

Sunnycam is not entirely new: its first camcorder specs appeared a few years ago, but they made you look like Joe 90 and their performance was erratic. Even the latest generation, available for the first time on the UK high street, does not replace a normal camcorder but does augment it, with a “point of view shot” that would not otherwise have been possible. It captures this through a “third eye” camera lens that sits between the spectacle lenses. A vibration control built into the frame lets you activate recording with a single touch, and apart from your ears, there is no need for a camera mount.

There are drawbacks, though. Your brain is adept at compensating for changes in your eyeline when you move your head but the Sunnycam Extreme is not, so you need to keep your gaze as still as possible while you’re recording. And they’re obviously no use if you are already wearing glasses.

On the plus side, you can switch between clear and polarised lenses, and the glasses are moderately water-resistant so there’s no need to take them off when it rains - though the footage will be spoilt.

Ultimately, the Sunnycam is a toy, not a serious piece of camera gear. But in certain circumstances - recording your point of view on a rollercoaster, for instance, when you want your hands for holding a railing, not a camcorder - it’s could just be the one you’ve been waiting for all your life.