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Comment by SimCity3000 | Hacker News Reader

I feel like people had the same worries when television, computers and video games invaded homes everywhere in decades past. I'm thinking the problems (if any) won't be as bad as you think they will be.

And to your last point I think that's where common sense comes in. If something is painful, if it causes you discomfort, stop. You're body is decently good at protecting you from things that are harmful to it (except sugary sweets for me...)

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The amount of people being prescribed glasses is growing each year due to phone and computer use.

I have poorer vision in low light conditions then when I was younger. My optometrist has confirmed my sensitive eyes and advised to wear blue light filters but I choose not to. I have friends who need glasses to drive legally at night for similar reasons.

Don't give people the wrong impression without first asking professional advice as you could do harm by misleading someone.

While it is true that incidences of myopia are increasing, we don't quite have the evidence to assert that it is due to phone and computer use. Indeed, many studies suggest that the reason might actually be a lack of bright light (i.e. sunlight) and that deliberate exposure to bright light may actually be a good intervention to prevent myopia (see e.g. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal..., https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-26635-7, https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2355431)

Relevant YouTube video about this from SciShow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwQzTKHIkb4

bright white light or led screens ? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

From what I remember when I last looked into it: We underestimate how bright sunlight is. Screens just aren't bright enough. They only appear to be bright to us because they are one of the few light sources in indoor environments.

>Don't give people the wrong impression without first asking professional advice as you could do harm by misleading someone.

The irony of posting this after a statement that is patently not supported by any evidence, and is generally thought to be wrong:

>due to phone and computer use.

Word, that sort of claim begs for an associated reference to a study.

> The amount of people being prescribed glasses is growing each year due to phone and computer use.

I have some hope the use of VR gear might start to reverse that trend. The focal plane is normally set a couple meters away from you -- I think six meters for the Quest. Anecdotally, I find it comfortable to look into; it has a 'night' mode that reddens the light, too.

I don't know how provable it is, but I've always heard that nearsightedness may be caused by looking at things that are too close, too often.

Right now there's a concern in that the focal plane is always six meters, but light-field displays will be coming at some point, probably before these become a mass-market product.

I think it's a little bit more then the worries we see with TV's since children under a certain age are not allowed to use it.

But yeah I couldn't imagine using it for a workday. I bought an Oculus Go once, my eyes couldn't handle it for more then 5 tot 10 minutes.

But I guess everyone is different, can imagine for some people like me it's not healthy

The Oculus Go has a resolution of 12.67 pixels per degree. The Quest 2 has a resolution of 15.5 (vertical) to 20 (horizontal) pixels per degree, and a massively reduced screen-door effect.

Anecdotally (i.e. for me), that makes it far less straining to look into. although I'd really want twice that.

You can't really feel pain in your retina though.

Well specifically to the brightness, how much light is going into your eyes when using a VR set relative to, say, a TV? Or a 27-inch monitor close to your face?

Or the sun/daylight while being outside? I'd guess that's some orders of magnitude more.

Ironically you need to be exposed to the strong light outside (as a child), otherwise you will need glasses.

Yep, I really regret spensing so much time of my youth indoors in front of a monitor... At age 19 I can experience the loss in sight quality already. It is recommended to spend AT LEAST 2 hours everyday outside in daylight to prevent myopia. I did not follow that recommendation and regret it sorely.

The evidence around this appears to be most strong for actually having a long focal distance as being one of the most important factors (as opposed to the lux) - unless the evidence has significantly changed.

I mean there’s probably a pretty strong correlation between being outside and having a long focal distance, but my understanding was that when attempting to control for this (ie rise of increase in apartment living, first in Japan and then other Asian cities) its tightly correlated to not focusing on things a long way away

Yep, that's correct. If you're spending many hours a day in front of a phone or monitor for months or years you'll have accumulated a lot of very short focal length time, so to say.

I’d imagine most discomfort is eye strain rather than brightness. The way VR headsets work right now it’s important to have your eye correctly positioned and the headset adjusted for your own distance between pupils.

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