At Site
for Sore Eyes Berkeley, we know that in today’s digital world, screens blast
projected images at us from every imaginable angle. First, we wake up in the
morning and check email on our smartphones. We then head to work where we stare
at a computer for eight hours. At the end of each day, we get back into our
cars, where our built-in GPS screens display our current location. We then
drive home on the freeway, where electronic billboards vie for our attention.
When we arrive home, we turn on the TV and watch the news before falling
asleep. Digital images occupy almost every moment and every space; they are
ubiquitous and unavoidable.
The Vision Council recently found that 70% of U.S. adults reported
having some kind of digital eye strain (dry, fatigued, or red eyes, blurred vision,
headaches, back pain, neck pain, or general fatigue) as a result of using
digital devices for too many hours at a time.
To help our eyes deal with the incredible strain of too
much screen time, you can now buy “computer glasses” which are special-purpose
eyeglasses meant to optimize your eyesight for looking at digital screens. They
are designed to reduce glare (a major cause of eyestrain), increase contrast,
and maximize what you see through the lenses, making it easier to look at a
screen for longer periods of time.
Yet, there is another camp that believes digital imagery
should become an even more ubiquitous part of our lives – so readily available
at all times, that it literally appears right before your very eyes. This
technology has taken the form of Google
Glass, the much anticipated eyewear with a heads-up digital display. Google
Glass, which shipped out to selected
contest winners last week, will give users the ability to access the
internet, take photos, and speak “face-to-face” with other users across a
wireless network connection.
The real question is, do our eyes need glare-reducing
computer glasses, or is the new Google gadget simply too cool to pass up? The
answer, very simply, is that all pairs of eyes
are different. Whether or not computer glasses will work for you is subjective, because visual
abilities, level of computer usage, work environmental conditions, and viewing
habits change from person to person. If your eyes don’t hurt, you probably
don’t need to worry about protective lenses. But if they do, then it probably
wouldn’t be the best idea to add an omnipresent screen to your life. And remember, aside from having your eyes checked annually,
if you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, make an appointment with a Site for Sore Eyes optician to see (no pun intended)
what the issue is.
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