Are special glasses needed for regular computer users? | Hacker News Reader

Are special glasses needed for regular computer users?

miamiherald.com

20 pointsedw51915 comments

I'm not an M.D. or similar, but this is good advice:

Q: What's the 20-20-20 rule?

A: People get on the screen and they don't take their eyes off for way too long. We recommend that every 20 minutes, they look at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. We're taking the eyes from this turned-in contracted muscle position and stretching them out for a short period of time.

Is there anything beside intuition that makes you think this would help anything? It seems plausible to me too, but I have zero evidence that it would help anyone's eyes.

Three reasons: it sounds reasonable, because the eye muscles are probably not 'designed' for prolonged use in short distance focus. Second, I've seen similar things mentioned from other sources, which also seemed credible. Third, my experience - I can't abuse my eyes the way I did twenty years ago, and the "pause and look at a distant thing" seems to help. Actually, I prefer 20 yards/meters or more, instead of just 20 feet.

Agreed. Unless you're in a state of flow that would be disrupted by 20 seconds of staring into space. This probably isn't always the case—when I'm working, I sometimes look out and think—but much of the time it probably is.

I have a pair of Gunnar Optiks (http://www.gunnars.com/) that I LOVE.

I used to have ridiculous eye strain when staring at the computer screen for hours, but after getting a pair it's all but gone away. Like many here, I spend all day in front of a computer programming. Now I can't go anywhere I'll be using a computer for a prolonged period of time without them. When I bought them I thought they were a bit of a gimmick that worked mostly on the placebo effect, but after using them for close to a year, I can honestly say they have made a great impact on my ability to do work. I'd highly recommend that anyone who hasn't and has issues with eye strain give them a try.

Note, I do not work with Gunnar, nor am I associated with them in any way shape or form other than being a happy consumer.

I find the info on their site very difficult to evaluate... i.e., to tell if they are just blowing smoke... full of slick images, slack on facts/data.

What are supposed to be the mechanisms by which their products might possibly reduce eye strain?

I felt the same way.

Basically, first you'll notice the lenses are colored yellowish. They make everything feel a bit "warmer." I know that's extremely subjective, but I can't explain it any other way. I suppose one could argue the same thing could be accomplished by tweaking your graphics card settings or monitor, but this just automatically makes things feel nicer. Also, it's not so extreme that everything looks yellowy, it's very subtle.

But the main thing is that it has a different focal length. What I was able to gather is the following. Most reading glasses have a focal length that you'd have for reading. (~12-18 inches or so) These have a focal length which is 2-3 feet which is the viewing distance for staring at a computer screen. I'm pretty sure this is the main thing that helps eliminate the eye strain that I used to experience.

This is possible by adjusting software settings. I noticed a huge difference when I changed the colour temperature of my monitor from 9300 K to 5000 K. It made everything look "warmer," as you describe.

In addition to generally feeling less eye strain, my eyes no longer tear up and hurt after a number of hours, and I don't have trouble sleeping after using my computer at night.

Agree on Gunnars - ever since I started using them (about 2 months ago) my eyes are not nearly as much tired at the end of the day as they used to be. Also, no more headaches.

I was also very skeptical about them, however something had to be done about all the pain I had after using computer for 8-10 hours.

Based on a couple of reviews (including one from Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2009/10/leveling-up-yo...) I took the plunge and bought them from a local optometrist. The plan was to return them if they did not work.

The results were evident within first several days and I kept the glasses. See for yourself - buy and return them if they don't work for you...

From the photo in that article, they appear to me to be similar to the effect I induce using a bookmarklet to blacken text and give the background a beige or light tan tint, when browsing. I've also taken to setting a similar background in e.g. my text editor.

I find a lot of pure white background difficult to take on a screen that is not entirely reflective and passively lit. Other colors cause more or less difficulty, depending upon hue and intensity. The stroke width of the font I'm viewing also makes a difference; the coloration I describe generally makes thin strokes easier to take.

I don't know anything about Gunnar, but last week I was at my yearly eye exam and asked about computer monitors and eye strain (I only ever wear contacts). The optometrist told me that any pair of glasses with anti-reflective coating will reduce eye strain caused by looking at a monitor all day.

I don't like glasses with anti-reflective coating , they get dusty so easily! So I think the reason why they might reduce eye strain is because every 30 min you want to take them off and clean them :) here is your needed pause for your eyes

Do these work for people with good eyesight already?

I used to experience "weird vision", which was diagnosed as ocular migraines. I was prescribed reading glasses but was skeptical - my vision has always been perfect. I bought a cheap $20 pair of glasses to disprove that theory, and have been wearing them for over a year now with none of the symptoms I used to have.

The optometrist's theory was the same as stated in this interview - that I had a bit of trouble focusing at book/monitor distance, which was magnified by the amount of time I spent working. The reading glasses take the strain off of my eyes = no more migraines. It's been awesome.

I wish I had some kind of glasses like that a decade ago, when my monitor was a small crappy CRT. That thing was painful to use, in the proper sense.

Nowadays, I don't care that much, the currently available LCDs are pretty good.

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