The Vicis Oakley Prizm Shield.

Vicis‘ football helmet just got more high-tech.

The Seattle startup today announced a deal with sunglasses giant Oakley for a new “VICIS EDGE Shield” on its ZERO1 helmet that will be used in games by NFL and NCAA players this upcoming season.

The shield uses Oakley’s Prizm technology that enhances detail and provides better clarity and contrast for football players. It was custom-designed for the ZERO1, which offers a wider field of view than traditional helmets.

The companies call it the “first-ever co-developed football optics system.”

“We saw an opportunity to partner with Oakley to help players elevate their performance via improved optics,” Vicis CEO Dave Marver said in a statement. “Our goal is that athletes wearing a ZERO1 will benefit from industry-leading field of view, enhanced optical clarity and better protection.”

Vicis VP of Operations Bill Sutter and CEO Dave Marver inside the company’s production facility in Seattle. (GeekWire photo/Kevin Lisota)

GeekWire last month toured Vicis’ 3,000 square-foot production facility in Seattle that is pumping out hundreds of ZERO1 helmets which are designed to mitigate the forces thought to cause concussions.

Vicis recently garnered national attention after its helmet finished first in the NFL’s 2017 Helmet Laboratory Testing Performance Results, which assessed 33 helmets that could be worn in the upcoming 2017 season and determined which was best at reducing head impact severity experienced by players during games.

Vicis, which spun out of the University of Washington in 2014 and has raised $40 million to date, could play a key role in curbing the concussion problem for not just pro football, but many other sports. Earlier this week, a new study examined the brains of 111 deceased football players — 110 of them were found to have CTE, the disease caused by repeated impact to the head.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.