Go for a walk outside, gaze into the sky and embrace the summer breeze. Birds are chirping, butterflies are flying and the tall trees are moving with the breeze. Now take a look around you: how many others are focused on the world around them? It would be impressive to see a couple of people, given the way so many people stare so intently into the palms of their hands. When was the last time you’ve seen people walk around campus without clutching a little machine and looking fixedly or repeatedly into its display? The reality is that most people cannot go a few hours (or even a few minutes) without glancing back at our 4 inch monitor, awaiting or responding to some sort of notification. It seems as though our daily lives have become fixated on these digital devices.
The millennial generation is no stranger to this social development, having used computers almost daily in the past decade or longer. With the widespread availability of smartphones, a digital environment is prevalent today. As university students, we immerse ourselves within these environments daily, causing an unprecedented amount of strain on our eyes (nearly 4 out of 10 students will spend nine hours on digital devices each day [i]). Staring at these screens may lead to neck/shoulder/back pain, headaches, blurred vision, and dry eyes [ii]. Vision is a crucial aspect to student life, so protecting our vision against digital displays is important. For this and other health-related reasons, it is imperative to unplug and take a break from technology.
The first thing to do, if you are exposed to a computerized environment daily, is to schedule a comprehensive eye exam [iii]. By telling an optometrist how much you interact with digital displays on a daily basis, they will be able to specify the correct measurements for your eyes’ working distance. Secondly, you should try and adjust your environment as much as possible to alleviate eyestrain. This includes regulating the lighting: when you use a computer, the ambient lighting should be about half as bright as is typically found in most offices. The next measure you can take is to adjust your computer/smartphone’s display setting: adjusting the brightness on your display to match the brightness of your surroundings is optimal, as well as changing text formatting to black print on a white background, especially for extended reading.
Ultimately, these are only countermeasures to eyestrain and other consequences. The only real solution is to reduce your exposure to digital displays. Do you feel stuck at a computer all day? The “20/20/20 rule” (every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away, for at least 20 seconds) is an easy way to help prevent eye strain [iv].
As consumer technology develops and its use continues to increase, our eyes will have an even tougher time keeping up with the ongoing digital trend. Before you hop onto your computer, and log into Facebook, you might consider reading a book, taking a walk or doing something physically active. No matter how innovative and advanced display technologies become, they can never replicate the rich environment we live in.
References
[i] 2015 Digital Eye Strain Report. Rep. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
[ii] Hill, Simon. “Does Staring at Screens All Day Really Damage Your Eyes? We Asked an Expert.” Digital Trends. N.p., 06 Feb. 2015. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
[iii] Heiting, Gary, and Larry K. “Are You Spending Too Much Time Looking at Digital Devices? Learn How It Can Affect Your Eyes.” All About Vision. N.p., 07 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.
[iv] Rivera, Erin. “Visian ICL | Implantable Collamer Lenses for Vision Correction.” The 20-20-20 Rule. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
[v] [Bluelight]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/540b6590e4b029a48855471d/t/5428e0b1e4b00a24df3b9309/1411965110059/BackImage+4.png?format=2500w
