We see the world through the displays of our electronic devices. Moreover we spend a lot of time every day looking at our displays and that could have negative effects on our visual health.
Nowadays, smartphones, tablets, computers and televisions are indispensable in our lives. Due to them we get up-to-date, socialise, learn, work, train, relax and so on.
- 4 different electronic devices are used at work, at school, and during leisure time on average.
- 2 out of every 3 persons use their smartphones on a daily basis.
- 64% of people use a computer for 4 hours or more every day.
Eyes continue working even when we spend time in front of a display
The changes in our behavior seen before affect our vision in different ways: the eyes will get tired more easily due to the prolonged time spent in front of displays. According to the Digital Eye Strain (2015, The Vision Council) report, 6 in every 10 adults use digital devices for 5 hours or more every day.
Extra effort for your eyes
The digital content is formed by tiny pixels that more often than not produce an image made of pixels. In this case, the eyes have to do an extra effort in order to process the image.
Furthermore, depending on the type of content we see and the device we use, it is frequent to find that the size of the font face is too small or that the excess of natural light makes reading a difficult task.
This extra effort could provoke eyestrain. The most frequent symptoms include headaches, eye fatigue, red eyes, neck pains or backaches and difficulties to focus.
Increased exposure to blue light
Although the majority of blue-light emission is beneficial for human health, a part of the spectrum of blue light could also be damaging for visual health. So, the continuous exposure to blue light, generated from LED displays, could be a risk factor that can cause AMD or Age Macular Degeneration.
A new extremely-close reading area
Essilor –the global leader as lens’ manufacturer– detected that the frequent use of displays could be damaging for the eyes. For that reason, they created a work team so they could study its effects.
This work team formed by professionals on the field created a protocol in order to analyze the use of three different types of devices: smartphones, tablets and eBook readers. Seven distinct types of tasks were defined for each device, such as looking up weather forecast, reading an email, playing a videogame and watching a video.
The team chose some volunteers between 24 and 51 years old and they had to accomplish these tasks in three different positions: standing, sitting down and laying down. All the process was recorded in Essilor’s laboratory.
The result of this investigation was that there is a new extremely-close reading area. When people usually read a piece of paper they tend to move it away 1ft 4in, while this distance is reduced when people use smartphones: 1ft 1in on average but there are some cases in which the distance is 9in. The researches also detected a prominent difference in the incline when people use their mobile phones in comparison to traditional newspapers, particularly when they are standing.
Essilor’s answer: EyeZen
As a conclusion of the research, Essilor created a new range of lenses that are designed for a complete digital life.
EyeZen lenses include extra support in the lower part of the lens in order to compensate the effort that the eyes realize when they try to focus in extremely close distances.
These new lenses also have an especial coating based on Crizal Prevenzia lenses that protect the eyes against blue and violet light emitted by digital displays.
Optical H helps you to take care of your visual health. If you have any doubt, contact us without hesitation and we will help you to find the prescriptive eyewear that suits you best.
