If you are like me then you probably spend hours sitting in front of a computer screen. Is your eye sight going from bad to worse? How many of you wear glasses? If your vision had been fairly stable through out your career, what techniques have you been using maintain your vision?
Second, against all odds I love F.lux: http://stereopsis.com/flux/. It adjusts the color temperature of your screen based on time of day. Try it for a while and then turn it off to see the difference, especially at night.
1. Invert the colors whenever possible. Dark background, light text. Zenburn is a good color scheme for this, and you can find it for just about everything, from Vim and Emacs to Xmonad, to tons of other stuff.
2. LCD only. Not a problem these days, you don't see CRTs much anymore.
3. Don't hunch over your computer. Back straight, lean back, recline if necessary or get a standing desk, and increase the font size.
4. Look up frequently and practice refocusing on items of varying distances. Treat your eyes like muscles, work out your focusing ability.
FWIW, I looked into this a few months ago. I don't have any cites, but I found some reasonably persuasive articles that light-on-dark is best only for dimly-lit rooms. If you're in a bright office, dark-on-light is best. (And being in a brightly-lit room is probably best for mood and alertness anyway.)
The origins of dark-on-light as "readable" are old-school monochrome computer terminals, where the resolution was so low that if you used light-on-dark, you'd see all the individual pixels - light pixels lit up, dark ones didn't. We're past that now.
Weird request... but does anyone else take some form of stimulant or drug that dilates your pupils and work at a computer during the day? I've taken adderall and ritalin for ADHD and my eyes will actually be sore at the end of the day. It goes away by morning, but there's been times I just felt like shit at the end of the day and go home and sleep because I just can't stand any more light.
For OP's question... I don't think my eyes have degraded one bit, but I'm still in my 20s and I had 20/10 vision to start with.
I have been thinking this exact thing lately, having been off Ritalin for months and recently started taking it again. My eyes feel awful at the end of the workday, something I did not notice in the exact same work environment when I was off the medication.
Those pills can raise your blood-pressure, so maybe that's cause of your problem? Next time that happens, take your blood pressure and see if it's higher than expected.
I don't wear glasses, I've never worn glasses and I currently spend up to 12 hours/day in front of a computer. I'm in my late 40's.
I usually use some system to take frequent breaks, usually an egg timer set to 10-15 minute intervals.
Every couple weeks, I'll isolate each eye and practice focusing near and far. I use trigger point therapy to work on the small muscle around the eye-sockets.
In general, I practice a couple of movement and relaxation exercises - Qigong and the Alexander technique. I've been using a standing work station for last six months but been using the computer heavily since about 1990 this is just extra.
I tend not avoid categories like "bad eyes" or "need glasses". If my eyes happen to have trouble focusing, I assume the muscle are tired and need some attention. I've heard that glasses just encourage eyes to get worse. I don't know if that's true but seems plausible. I'd view the body in general as involving many nested feedback loops. I believe that people who experience "health problems" often assume that they are "broken" in fashion akin to a simple machine where they often simply need "recalibrating". Not that I won't eventually "wear out" but I'm aiming to stay functional as long as possible.
Your mileage may vary. I certainly get eye irritation if I use the computer too much or don't get light.
Decrease your screen brightness and invert its color. Remember to blink. Drinking lots of water will help keep your eyes hydrated and force you to take breaks away from your computer to go to the bathroom. Try to make a habit of zooming content rather than squinting closely at it. Give computer glasses a try.
No problems, 30+ years of staring at monitors of various types in all kinds of light.
I do have bifocals now (the type that have a gradual transition so one doesn't look like an obvious grandpa :) ). These helped enormously in my mid 40s, took less than a day to get used to.
Other than that, my corrected vision is better than 20/20.
Any old glasses. How much your vision improves depends upon your prescription. For someone like me with astigmatism, getting better than perfect is difficult. If you're simply myopic, you could very well improve to 20/15 or 20/10.
20/20 is just an average, so it's far from "perfect vision". It's like having an IQ of 100.
- Mirror behind the screen, look at the wall behind occasionally (or when thinking) with the mirror, or even better, angle the mirror to see out a window. Maybe use two mirrors to do this.
Epidemiologists have more or less proven that the more time you spend outdoors, the less chance of your eyesight worsening.
You need to spend more time where you can see the horizon.
I posted this study twice before on HN. It's a really useful result because it could save u and your loved ones from having to wear glasses.
Keeping the lighting appropriate for your screen(s) is the most important thing, along with positioning your screen(s) at about arm's length. I try to use bright pure white lightbulbs whenever possible.
After that, using a larger font is good (I use 16pt Inconsolata with Monokai theme for good contrast). I tried out those Gunnar computer glasses and they work pretty well (I got the clear lens ones), but I always forget to wear them.
Nice link - most of those anyone can do, though the last one "magnetic frames" made me laugh.
Someone once recommended Paul McCartney's "eye yoga" YouTube video - really simple exercises that don't require windows with vertical grates or special magnetic frames.
PS - the most hilarious part is that the video is blurry, but the rest of my screen/browser/world is in focus, so if I do the exercises enough and suddenly his video is in focus and everything else isn't, I'm going to be pissed...
second problem that may hit after many years starting at the display - eye dryness. When people stare at the display, they typically blink less frequently and the blinking is what keeps the eye lense wet.
In my personal experience the various problems started to appear only after almost 20 years of staring into display. Yet once it started, there is no good way back, only trying to slow it down.
Second. If you wear contacts, dryness is a killer. Hydration is critical; I keep a glass of ice water at my desk at all times. (This also forces you to take brief breaks for the bathroom, which are good for both your eyes and your spine.)
I doubt it - my vision is worse than that of my brothers because I've been standing in front of computer and reading math books too much in the past.
A golden advice from an eye-doctor that makes my eyes much less tired (ymmv) even though I don't strictly adhere to it: every once in a while (~30min) rest your eyes by just looking at something about 15ft away or by keeping them closed for about 1 minute. Don't necessarily try to focus on something far, just look at it.
Two tips. Get back from the screen and use larger fonts: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/07/16-pixels-body-co.... Note the bit on “vergence”.
Second, against all odds I love F.lux: http://stereopsis.com/flux/. It adjusts the color temperature of your screen based on time of day. Try it for a while and then turn it off to see the difference, especially at night.