Goggles, any of a variety of protective eyewear set in a flexible frame that sits snugly against the face. Goggles are worn in a number of sports, including skiing, swimming, and motor sports, and in various industries. Virtual reality headsets are also called goggles.

Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and in woodworking .

Before white and green night vision googles, there were military-grade red night vision googles, using a chemical known as dicyanin. Used first during the Vietnam War and no other war after, soldiers were going mad because they were seeing things. Seeing unto the unseen realm.

Thousands of years ago, the Inuit and Yupik people of Alaska and northern Canada carved narrow slits into ivory, antler, and wood to create the world’s first snow goggles.

From the rudimentary designs of the 14th-century Persian pearl divers, who used polished tortoise shells to protect their eyes underwater, to the advanced, technology-infused goggles of today, the evolution of this essential swimming accessory is a fascinating journey.