In a world where everyone is glued to their smartphones, it’s no surprise there is a recent report out saying our cell phones and other small devices are straining our vision.
“I use my iPhone all the time,” Sarah Bellin said. “I travel a lot and so I watch movies on the plane and am constantly churning out emails.”
Bellin, a 34 year old sales representative, says she isn’t sure how she would do her job without her phone.
“It’s my mobile office,” she said. “I stare at this screen for hours on end.”
Bellin says every once in a while her smartphone dependency does bring on a headache. “My eyes do get tired after a while.”
Bellin is not alone, a new report published by the Journal of Vision says smartphones and some 3D devices can strain your vision, since your eyes have to adjust to the small screen and close proximity of the image to your face.
“When watching stereo 3D displays, the eyes must focus — that is, accommodate — to the distance of the screen because that’s where the light comes from. At the same time, the eyes must converge to the distance of the stereo content, which may be in front of or behind the screen,” explains author Martin S. Banks, professor of optometry and vision science, University of California, Berkeley.
Banks says this problem could eventually cause people to put down their smartphone, or at the very least spur more research in the area.
“This is an area of research where basic science meets application and we hope that the science can proceed quickly enough to keep up with the increasingly widespread use of the technology,” Banks said. “We use technology very differently than we once did and it’s something we need to investigate further.”
