In 2004, 28% of Americans spent time reading for pleasure on an average day. By 2023, that number has fallen to just 16%, a decline of more than 40% in two decades. Simultaneously, our screen times have gone up, with Gen Z sometimes spending over 9 hours a day on their screens. We’re experiencing a steady decline in reading, a cultural shift that threatens both our literacy and the cognitive benefits that reading provides.
Into this crisis steps Sol Reader: a pair of wearable reading glasses designed to change the modern reading experience, literally blocking out the rest of the world to help you rediscover books in peace. As the tech industry focuses more and more on multifunctionality and developing addiction, Sol went the opposite direction: what if you built technology that deliberately did less?
© Sol Reader
© Sol Reader
© Sol Reader
© Sol Reader
© Sol Reader
© Sol Reader
The company’s founder, Ben Chelf, was growing increasingly frustrated with how much of our lives are consumed by devices, and wondered how to create devices that could serve us differently. Looking at the digital reading market, he found an opportunity: no major innovation in years, immense importance for human wellbeing, and technical feasibility. While many modern wearables like the Apple Vision Pro try to cram features into these devices until they can theoretically replace your phone, computer, and TV simultaneously, Sol looks at just doing one thing very well.
The reading glasses weigh just 104 grams and provide up to 25 hours of battery life for pure, distraction-free reading. The device employs two 1.3-inch e-ink displays, lit on the side with warm 3000K LEDs, with adjustable focus. The experience is navigated through a handheld remote, a choice that might seem retrograde, but instead speaks to being simple and intuitive, allowing easy usability without having to learn complex eye tracking or unnatural hand gestures.
© Sol Reader
While we cannot say that the aesthetics of this way of reading don’t look odd, it does provide benefits over normal books or e-readers. Being hands-free, the device allows you to read in any position, even standing or lying flat, without damaging your neck and posture. As lighting is consistent, you can also read in the dark without disturbing your surroundings.
On his Substack, Ben Chelf wrote “books are my metaverse,” suggesting that the richest, most immersive experiences don’t have to require virtual reality or digital universes, but can be simply achieved through great writing. One of our brains’ greatest built-in technologies is our imagination, being able to create images, stories, and entire universes out of nothing in our minds. If we keep on looking at digital worlds created by others instead of the ones in our own minds, we might begin losing this skill.
© Sol Reader
In an economy increasingly built on capturing and monetising attention, products like the Sol Reader help people reclaim their focus. 2026 has been called the year of ‘Analogue Living’ by Vogue and Forbes, and while few of us actually believe we will be able to truly disconnect from our digital lives, hybrid devices like this can feed our need for more authentic and purposeful consumption.