Children today have more digital tools at their disposal than ever before—tablets, smartphones, e-readers, hand-held videogames and computers. What ever happened to playing outside? Somehow Angry Birds usurped hide-and-seek because, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children and teenagers (ages 8-18) are spending more than 7.5 hours a day consuming electronic media. This overuse can cause digital eye strain, a medical issue with serious symptoms that can affect learning and work productivity. Symptoms of digital eye strain, or computer vision syndrome, include blurry vision, difficulty focusing, dry and irritated eyes, headaches, neck pain and back pain. Digital eye strain is now the number one computer-related complaint in the United States—ahead of carpal-tunnel syndrome.
VSP EyeFiles Season 2 continues with Dr. Liddicoat’s recommendations for avoiding digital eye strain, which include:
Getting annual comprehensive eye exams: make sure your eyes are healthy and can see properly without squinting.
Following the 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Ensuring proper lighting: reduce bright light and position devices to reduce reflections and glare.
Limiting device use: watch for squinting and eye rubbing as this indicates overuse
Establishing proper working distance: use the distance from your elbow to your knuckle—about 18”.
Going outside: daily outdoor play can reduce the risk of nearsightedness.
For more information on these tips, be sure to watch VSP Eyefiles episode below and check out the EyeFiles Tab.
VSP’s Facebook poll results: Over 90% of you said you know next to nothing about free-form/digtal lenses. Here’s a post to break it down.
I admit it. I held out a long time before I pulled the trigger and made the switch from DVDs and upgraded to Blu-ray discs. What was I thinking? I was kicking myself within minutes of watching Blu-ray content for not having upgraded sooner – it looked amazing: big, bold, crisp images and exceptional detail and color. To this day, it’s painful to sit through a regular DVD, having grown accustomed to all that Blu-ray offers.
Having been late to board the Blu-ray train, I decided that I would make an effort to be ahead of the curve and become more of an “early adopter” of new technology that interests me. With my annual eye exam coming up in about a month, naturally, I started thinking about the latest, cutting-edge lens technology available.
If you ask your eye doctor about the latest lens technology out there, you’re probably going to hear them talk about ‘free-form’ or ‘digital’ lenses. This technology allows for digital manufacturing of lenses that are customized for your unique prescription. The lenses produced are truly individualized for your needs, as many factors are taken into account in order to create them, such as how they are positioned in front of your eye, the angle between your eye and the back surface of the lens, as well as the size of your frames.
Think about it this way: You can buy a suit off the rack based upon the size that fits you, and generally speaking, it will look fine. Or, you can have that suit finely-tailored to fit your specific measurements. With free-form, you can now have customized lenses for your specific prescription and frames.
Beyond the enhanced visual clarity that free-form lenses offer, other benefits include:
Exceptional night/low light vision: Free-form lenses can reduce glare and halo effects caused by light sources at night, such as car headlights
Exceptional contrast perception: Free-form lenses can sharpen vision
Exceptional color vision: Free-from lenses can maximize the optics built into your lenses, providing brighter and more intense colors
It’s also important to note that while you can get single-vision prescription free-form lenses, people with stronger prescriptions and progressive wearers will notice the most visual improvement from free-form.
I’m eager to give free-form lenses a try and see how the customized approach to lenses enhances vision. I’m curious to hear from those of you out there who have embraced this technology and are already wearing free-form lenses. Are your results a little like my experience of comparing the regular image quality of DVD to Blu-ray’s superior image? Leave a comment below and let us know!
To learn more about free-form/digitally customized lenses, check out the lenses and technology section on “The Center.”
Guest blogger Dave Johnston works in VSP’s marketing department and shares with us a fascinating article about the implementation of 3D technology in WWII.
With the recent advancements in 3D technologies in both the movie and gaming industry, it is hard to believe that 3D technologies played a part in World War II. That’s right, World War II.
A recent BBC News Magazine article by Jon Kelly explains how the Royal Air Force used aerial photographs taken by low flying, un-armed Spitfires and a stereoscope to map out the landscape in enemy territory and disable key German missile installations.
“To make the 3D effect work, images had to be captured in carefully-plotted sequences which would overlap each other by 60% so everything would stand up when viewed through the stereoscope.”
It explains how the outcome of WWII could have been very different if the Nazi’s had managed to carry out planned attacks on London using the newly developed V-1 and V2 missiles.
VSP takes to the streets in the second Eye-Q video asking folks “how many hours a day do you spend looking at the computer?” Check it out and see how you match up.
If you have any questions about computers and your eyes, register for VSP’s Ask and Doctor – Live Q & A about Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) today at 11 a.m. P.S.T or 2 p.m. E.T. with Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford. He will answer your questions and provide tips on how to keep your eyes healthy and safe in this technological world.
For more fun videos and to find out more about eye health, check out our new, interactive website SeeMuchMore.com.
“It’s a new and growing condition that’s a byproduct of modern technology,” she said. “The most common symptoms are: eye strain, dry or irritated eyes, fatigue, and headaches.” Dr. Ashton not only provides the latest on a health problem that affects 70 percent of computer users, her recommendations on easing this strain are tips from VSP Vision Care:
Blink Often: When looking at a computer or hand-held digital device, it’s common for you to blink two to three times less than you normally would. This can lead to “dry eye.” Blinking bathes your eyes in tears, and tears are naturally therapeutic for the eyes.
The 20/20/20 Rule: When spending long periods in front of a digital device, every 20 minutes, spend 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away to allow your eyes to rest.
Ensure Proper Lighting: Poor lighting often causes eye strain. To help ease the strain on your eyes, keep bright lighting overhead to a minimum and position your desk lamp to shine on your desk, and not at you. Position your computer screen in a way that reduces reflections and glare from windows or overhead lights.
Location of computer screen: Most people find it more comfortable to view a computer when the eyes are looking downward. Optimally, the computer screen should be 15 to 20 degrees below eye level (about 4 or 5 inches) as measured from the center of the screen and 20 to 28 inches from the eyes.
For more information about computer-related vision problems visit the “My Eyes” tab on VSP’s Facebook page.
Looking for everything eyecare and eyewear? Look no further than The Center on vsp.com, where you’ll find out about:
Eyecare Learn how to keep your eyes healthy for a lifetime. Read articles and watch videos on a wide-range of topics, like cataracts, diabetes, and dry eye. You can also stop by the Kids’ Zone to test your Eye-Q and play a few tricks on your eyes!
Gold! The US Bobsled Team 1 wins the first American gold medal in bobsled in 62 years. Sure, that is a feat in it of its self with heavy competition, but to make the victory even more sweet, the pilot of the Night Train sled Steve Holcomb, suffers from keratoconus, a degenerative eye condition in which the cornea distorts, causing streaking and blurring in the vision.
After his vision had deteriorated to 20/500, last March Steve underwent a radical 20-minute procedure, yet to be approved by the FDA, in which doctors implanted a lens behind each iris. Now just a year later, Steve is an Olympic champion!
See the gold medal run here and read more about Steve and the US Bobsled team here.
Very interesting stuff. EPAM – Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle, is currently working its way to human implantation (within 5 years). From the article:
Surgeons from UC Davis Medical Center have demonstrated that artificial muscles can restore the ability of patients with facial paralysis to blink, a development that could benefit the thousands of people each year who no longer are able to close their eyelids due to combat-related injuries, stroke, nerve injury or facial surgery.
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For people with other types of paralysis, the use of artificial muscles could someday mean regaining the ability to smile or control the bladder. Reanimating faces is a natural first step in developing synthetic muscles to control other parts of the body, said UC Davis otolaryngologist Craig Senders.
If you have the slightest interest in medical technology or just want to see how hard researchers are working – I HIGHLY recommend reading this article. Go humans!
TrueVision Systems, Inc. is helping budding ophthalmologists in the operating room by providing a new tool to help observe surgeries. The Santa Barbara CA based company is offering “3DHD” – a technology that projects a 3D image from an LCD screen (think Avatar the movie – hence the James Cameron reference). Its initial design is most beneficial for instructional purposes. Residents and students are able to observe delicate surgeries enlarged in great 3D detail, of course with the help of polarized 3D glasses.
Check out their page for a video in the operating room. Drew Carey bonus points if you know the bands playing in the background, I’ve got the song titles – Amber and Facedown. I’d like to hang with these MDs, they know good music.
Focus on Vision, a Dutch company, produces very low cost adjustable glasses for the developing world. The company says it can produce its Focusspec glasses for about $4 a pair, a price its founders say will fall substantially, once the glasses are made in large volume. -Michel de Groot for The International Herald Tribune
Interesting article from the New York Times, discussing the staggering cost of poor eyesight around the world … “A study published in a World Health Organization journal in June estimated the cost in lost output at $269 billion a year.” Wow.
The article goes on to highlight several efforts to distribute inexpensive glasses throughout the world on a large scale including technology such as self-adjusting glasses (see Vernon D’s post about this technology).
Here is an excerpt of the article by Douglas Heingartner and a link for the full deal …
VEGHEL, the Netherlands — With AIDS, malaria and other diseases costing millions of lives every year, worrying about the vision of people in the developing world may seem like an indulgence.
But supplying glasses for the world’s poor may be one of the most valuable investments around. Hundreds of millions of people — some put the estimates as high as two billion — do not have the corrective lenses that would allow them to lead better, more productive lives.
A study published in a World Health Organization journal in June estimated the cost in lost output at $269 billion a year. Moreover, tackling vision problems early can help prevent later blindness.
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Very interesting stuff. EPAM – Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle, is currently working its way to human implantation (within 5 years). From the article:
