Eye fatigue, caused by mobile eye strain, plagues many mobile device users.
Having a hard time deciding whether that’s an “l” or “i” on your phone, computer or e-reader? You may suffer from eye strain, tired eyes and or computer vision syndrome.
Mobile Devices Hard on Your Eyes
As you continue staring at mobile devices, you increase mobile eye strain severity. Young people have less eye fatigue than their elders when viewing electronic screens. An 18-year old’s lenses in the eye flex more than people in their 40’s and 50’s. 6 point type look sharper to a young person than someone older. And as our eyes age small screen fonts cause greater eye strain, dry eyes, and even migraines.
Some years ago, I had Lasik surgery with monovision correction (my right eye for reading, my left for distance). Then I could more easily read tiny type in newspapers. As I’ve aged, eye fatigue has increased because my eyes don’t focus as well.
Font Size Adjustments Reduce Mobile Eye Strain
Fortunately, most smartphones, like my iPhone, let you adjust font sizes. But most of us now use more mobile devices with tiny screens for greater lengths of time. So larger fonts aren’t the only answer for mobile eye strain.
Using your Voice to Control You Phone
As I wrote in a futuristic post “A Day in the Life of a 4G Wireless Mobile Phone Guy,” phone voice technology in the future advances considerably. “Charlene,” the phone guy’s companion, is a smartphone that communicates with him by voice, sparing the eyes.
Charlene not only understands simple voice commands. She interprets his intentions and makes suggestions based on her previous communications with him–all done without him squinting at a tiny phone screen. This reduces eye strain symptoms like fatigue.
Other Treatments for Tired Eyes
They’re a few products and herbal remedies like basil and cotton balls soaked in witch hazel that may help people experiencing tired eyes, fatigue, floaters and other eye problems.
Maybe you’d like a pair of Japanese-made “Wink Glasses,” intended for heavy video-gamers and book readers who fail to blink. For a mere $430, you get glasses with built-in sensors. Fail to blink for longer than five seconds and the lens in front of the offending eye fogs up until you comply.
By the way, I typed this blog post using 18 point type in a text editor. WordPress’ tiny fonts worsen my vision.
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