Noise-cancelling audio gadgets have been around for a while now, but one Berlin-based designer believes that blocking “visual noise” is as important, if not more so, as cancelling out unwanted sounds. To this end he has created a simple accessory called the Focus Cap.

Open work spaces definitely have their benefits, but they come with the drawback of offering employees little to no control over visual distractions. With so many people around and so much going on, some us can easily get overwhelmed by this information overload and lose focus in what’s really important. That’s where the Focus Cap comes into play. As the name suggests, it’s a cap, but one with a folding visor, allowing the user to block out peripheral vision distractions in a matter of seconds. Think of it as horse blinders for humans.

Photo: Hannes Greblin/FocusCap

“As we are still cavemen or mammals kept in an unnatural environment, I believe that only by reclaiming the normal, stress-free human state through simple tools and techniques we can finally unleash our actual creative potential and create our meaningful work for a brighter future,” says German designer Hannes Greblin, inventor of the Focus Cap.

After looking at other other products designed at minimizing visual distractions, from Hugo Gernsback’s 1925 ‘The Isolator’ to last year’s ‘Helmfon’ helmet, Greblin decided that most of them were either to expensive or to uncomfortable to become mainstream, so he decided to go with something much simpler – a simple cap with a retractable visor.

Photo: Hannes Greblin/FocusCap

Greblin’s Focus Cap is really straightforward. You just wear it like a regular cap with the sides of the visor retracted, and just collapse the sides whenever you need to focus solely on what’s ahead of you. Like I said, before, horse blinders for people.

Whether you’re trying to focus on a task in an open work office, trying to study at university, or practicing yoga in a park and trying to ignore stares from strangers, the Focus Cap can help. And if you’re looking to block out all distractions, their creator recommends pairing it with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.

 

To be honest, this whole project sounds like a joke, but the Focus Cap does have its own website where people interested in this unusual accessory can actually sign up for updates on when it will go on sale. Greblin claims it will cost 30 euros ($37) plus shipping, and will be available in black and translucent versions. A translucent distraction blocker… This must be a joke.