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Comment by NikolaNovak | Hacker News Reader

If it's just the amount of light as per abstract,I assume darkened room would be equivalent I.e. There's no magic additional benefit of mask itself (pressure / touch / etc)?

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I don't understand how 'eye mask' made it into the title, if it's all just about light. Here in Germany, you get window shutters ("Rolladen") on every window and that's that

https://youtu.be/_KePLmie7lE

Funny, in Germany most "old" houses don't have shutters, from my small sample of living in 4 or 5 German houses. Many people from the south of Europe complain about that when traveling to Germany.

https://www.lasexta.com/viajestic/curioso/que-paises-extranj...

I've never forgotten living with these when I was an exchange student in Germany years ago!

and often in France, ones that you can close from the outside. Moreso for blocking out the sun in summer time and security rather than night pollution.

I don't get the fake shutters in North America. Especially the ones that wouldn't even cover the window if they could move.

Shutters are expensive in the US, like thousands a window. They’re basically a luxury item. Curtains and blinds are middle class.

Mask is much cheaper and even the best shutters/blinds/curtains don't black you out perfectly.

The whimsical swinging shutters you see in the US: yes.

The mechanically or electrically-closed rolling shutters called "Rolladen" in German, and installed on all but the cheapest new construction in Europe: when properly installed, those things can black out a room with the sun shining directly through the window.

Right. But a dark room is a room in which, if you put your hand in front of your face, you don't see even the faintest outline of a hand.

I've been to some houses where the shutters had no gaps and they fit the window frame so well that virtually no light made it in, even during the day. It was surreal waking up in the morning, thinking it was still night time, then checking the clock only to see it was 8AM. A great feature to add to a house if you ask me.

Alternatively, IKEA makes a great little set of curtain tracks (VIDGA) you can attach to your ceiling to get full floor-to-ceiling blackout in a room, similar to many hotel rooms.

Yes in sweden we call this "winter depression"

That might be possible with good blackout curtains, except for the LEDs on damn near everything. Even in my own room at home, I have to remember to cover the USB charger that I use for laptop and random other devices. When I travel, it's a nightmare - clock radios, TVs, microwaves, and especially the lights built in to many GFCI outlets in bathrooms. I used to bring a roll of electrical tape for exactly this reason. Masks are the solution that works everywhere to block light, though they're less than ideal in other ways.

Someone needs to sue any manufacturer that uses blue leds on anything that might have to be on at night.

Absolutely agree. If I recall, there used to be an actual standard regarding this, but it was (is?) widely ignored and never enforced. I remember the time before blue LEDs with quite some fondness.

Lithographers tape works pretty well to dull LEDs just enough to no longer be offensive

I bet that with your eyes closed, the difference between "black out blind dark" and "no light" isn't much. I bought black out blind about 5 years ago and they're amazing. If I'm in my parents house or staying in a hotel during summer, I get crappy sleep and I'm wide awake at 5am.

I might mention that, believe it or don't - a living skull is translucent, and our brains can detect light all by themselves. So a mask is good, but not nec a whole solution.

In old experiments, just the light coming in under a door diminished melatonin in mice.

The skull itself? That seems implausible. Something on the skin other than the eyes seems more likely.

I thought the same, then I got an eye mask. It is still noticeable.

Now, I make no claims that it is necessary to be that dark. I have no idea.

>Research studies indicate that about 1 in 20 people do not shut their eyes while sleeping.

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/sleeping-wit...

Thanks God I'm in Europe and we have access to alien technologies such as roller blinds, which are basically the default on anything modern

Isn’t the pressure applied on your eyes a risk though? That’s one of the reasons keeping me away from using sleep masks.

I use a brand called Manta Sleep that has adjustable eye holes in the mask so the pressure goes around your eyes rather than on them.

Same but I also use their overused cups as well. Really helps move the pressure further from the eye.

overused? I'm assuming you meant over sized? I didn't know those existed. Definitely worth picking up?

Yes, oversized. I find them to be a worthwhile upgrade for sure.

These look interesting, I see they are also designed for side sleepers.

No, the pressure is very light for me, and not sleeping will always carry more risks.

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