As someone who stares at a computer for more than eight hours a day, and then a small phone screen for nearly eight more hours a day, I'm well aware that I suffer from eye strain and the headaches that come with it, and I know I probably deserve it too .
If you're like me and find yourself massaging your temples at work, rubbing your eyeballs at the end of a long day, or lying around with a headache at night, you might want to pick up a pair of Therabody SmartGoggles and let them do the work for you Work. This technology helps your eyes relax and provides massage therapy to reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep, and relieve those pesky headaches.
To test them properly, I put them on after a long day at my desk, and also for a few minutes before bed. The goggles feel like a regular sleep mask with a few extra high-tech features – and I absolutely love it.
This is my honest review of Therabody’s SmartGoggles.
Therabody Smart GogglesTherabodyquick overview
- Price: $199.00
- Best for: Relieving stress, headaches, and eye fatigue
- My rating: 4/5
- What we like: Easy to use, relaxing, improves eye fatigue
- What we don’t like: Not budget-friendly, bulky, vibration mechanism a bit loud
What are smart goggles?
These SmartGoggles come from the makers of the famous Theragun muscle massager. They use science-backed heat, massage, and vibration therapy to help you relax, relieve eye strain, headaches, and more.
They work by warming up, vibrating and oscillating, massaging the temples to release muscle tension. The goggles also work with apps that play music to help you refocus at work, relieve stress after a long day, or fall asleep faster, depending on what you listen to. All you have to do is put on your mask, put on your headphones, choose a track, and relax.
SmartGoggles feature Bluetooth connectivity and built-in sensors that track your biometric data, such as heart rate, while you relax. Here's how it works: When a sensor located near your cheek detects your body's reaction, it vibrates more or less depending on your needs. The idea is to synchronize your heart rate with the rhythm and pulse of the goggles so you feel calmer.
According to a six-week goggle trial conducted by SleepScore Labs for Therabody, 82% of people who wore SmartGoggles before bed felt less stressed and 78% reported less anxiety. These findings are also reflected in my personal experience.
One of the best benefits, though, is that this mask is said to help relieve eye fatigue. If you put it on after get off work or even in the middle of the day when you're tired of staring at a screen, the warmth of the mask combined with the massage can really relieve eye strain.
How to use goggles
To give your facial muscles a spa-like moment, all you have to do is scroll through the Therabody app and choose from three different treatments, all with their own soundtrack and mood music selection. There are SmartRelax, Focus and Sleep.
The goggles also feature multiple settings, so you can adjust heat levels, turn off the heat, or increase the vibration factor to customize your relaxation. From there, the goggles rock open as you listen to rain sounds, binaural beats, or guided meditation.
When your time is up (most classes last 5 to 20 minutes), you can take off the goggles and easily fold them up into the included case. The kit also comes with a USB charging cable. Once you charge them, they should last 120 minutes, so you can take the goggles with you to work, travel, and more.
my experience
I'm always worried when a beautifully packaged piece of technology shows up in front of me because I immediately think it's impossible to install, but SmartGoggles are a breeze. My mask was fully charged, so all I had to do was download the app, create an account, and connect the mask to my phone.
From there, I scrolled through the Home tab to see all the various soundtracks. Since I was testing them primarily for eye strain relief, I went straight to the "Relaxation and Stress Relief" track list and clicked on a 7-minute tune called "Post-Work Ease."
Since many SmartGoggle tracks have binaural frequencies, it's best to wear headphones to get the full effect - you know, so it feels like the pulses and beats are completely surrounding you. “Post-Work Ease” is an electronic ambient song that feels very meditative.
The goggles were busy massaging my upper face while the binaural beats put my brain into a deep, relaxed state.
The rolling motion of the mask reminds me of a massage chair in a nail salon. Some internal mechanism causes the mask to ripple and rotate around my eyes while the rest of the mask pulses and vibrates—it does seem to take away the tension in my eyeballs after get off work.
Halfway through the session, I turned up the temperature setting to add a little warmth, which made the experience even more luxurious. After just seven minutes, I noticed that my eyes were no longer painful and blurry. (I'm sure closing them and leaving them in the dark for a while has something to do with it too.)
Next, I put on the goggles before bed and do another meditation at the end of a long day. As a notorious insomniac, I love any gadget or gizmo that helps me fall asleep, and these are a welcome addition to my collection.
I scrolled up to the "For Restful Sleep" track list and clicked on a 10-minute song called "Ambient Slumber." This person plays a guitar instrument as well as binaural frequencies designed to help reset my sleep cycle.
All the while, the sides of the mask were gently squeezing my temples—this time with a slower, more melodic tempo than the After Hours track. The pressure is similar to the feeling of rubbing my temples, but instead of putting in the effort, I let the mask do its thing.
When I took off my mask, I found that my mind was less busy and there was less tension on my face. Then I fell asleep like someone who just went on vacation.
takeout
If you face eye strain, headaches, a stressful job, or you want a massage before bed, then I think these goggles are a good option. While they're not exactly budget-friendly, they have a lot to offer in terms of technology thanks to heat therapy and nifty internal parts that rub your eyes in all the right places.
The app also covers a lot of bases. You can listen to music designed to help you take a quick nap; soundscapes like rain and rolling ocean waves; background noises like white, green, pink, and brown noise; and when you need a moment to decompress, like I did after get off work The settings are the same, with relaxing music; a drowsy sleep track; soothing rhythms and background noise perfect for travel; mid-day frequencies to boost focus and productivity; and even guided meditations, if that's more your style.
Design-wise, I appreciate that the mask sits over your eyeballs so that pressure doesn’t go directly into the sensitive parts of your eyes. I was also impressed with how the massage is synced to the various soundtracks so you get the exact relief you need.
While the mask is bulky and slightly heavy, and the squeezing of the massage mechanism is a bit loud, that seems to be standard for massagers. It's still a pleasure to wear them for mini-spa moments at home after get off work and before bed.