Eyewear or other head-worn apparatus are fitted with an activation accessory that includes one or more switch elements integrated with or attached to a nose piece of the eyewear. The switch elements are communicably coupled to a processor-based controller so as to provide input signals to the controller responsive to wearer-initiated activations of the switch elements through interaction with a frame or temple piece of the eyewear. Upon receipt, the controller evaluates the input signals to determine whether or not they represent a command for the controlled device by assessing the input signals for a signal pattern indicative of such a command, and then, if the evaluation determines that the input signals do represent the command, issues the command to the controlled device. Otherwise the controller proceeds to receive and evaluate further input signals from the switch elements in a like manner as the first input signals.