Gaia is designed to encourage kids to reconnect with nature

Supporting emerging talent is one of Silmo 2025’s key missions and the Optical Design Contest exhibition is a quirky and inspiring place to spend some time. For its fourth edition, chaired by Belgian designer and interior architect Michel Penneman, the contest invited design students to imagine ‘superhero’ eyewear: bold, visionary and innovative.

The 2025 winner is Gaia by Hélène Caffin-Pinon (École Design Saint-Étienne), a children’s frame integrating plant recognition via augmented reality.

Like a superhero mask, the Gaia glasses have an integrated micro-camera capable of identifying plants, flowers and trees in real time. The name of the species the wearer is looking at is immediately displayed on a small screen built into the frame, without obstructing vision. Challenges are also offered in real time, displayed inside the glasses to make walks more exciting.

“Today, many children grow up far removed from nature and time spent outdoors is declining, replaced by screens and a more sedentary lifestyle. Many no longer know how to recognise a flower or a tree. Gaia glasses were born out of this observation, with the ambition of reviving the connection between children and the plant world,” said Caffin-Pinon.