Things certainly went up a level when computer games first came out. Next, Xbox and PlayStation consoles appeared. Over time it even became possible to play online against other people. Twitch streaming has also arrived on the scene, where people can record their games and even be paid by onlookers.
Many games are addictive by nature: they’re fast-moving and high action. There may be scene after scene, or exciting new levels or weapons to unlock. The problem is, it’s easy for people to lose track of time and end up spending hours gaming. When they finally emerge from their bedrooms, they may have dry, itchy, or sore eyes.
5 Ways to Prevent Eye Strain While Gaming
It’s not uncommon for people to experience headaches or blurred vision either. Alongside this people may struggle to acclimatize to the light outside their room, and have neck and shoulder pain as well. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent eye strain whilst gaming, and that’s what we are about to find out.
1. Seek Resources Online
If in doubt, Google it! There are a number of websites that can help weary gamers. The experts at blockbluelight.com.au say people are increasingly looking to buy glasses or lighting that blocks the harmful blue light emitted from our display screens. Gamers know that the light can disrupt their natural body rhythm and sleep, and can even damage their eyes (including such conditions as macular degeneration).
2. Blink And Break
The act of blinking naturally rehydrates our eyes. Interestingly, people who play games for long amounts of time blink less frequently. One strategy is to manually blink every time a person clicks on their handset.
Every twenty minutes a gamer should take a brief break from their screen. This is hard to implement because of the fast nature of games! Perhaps it can be synchronized with the end of each mini-game or scene change. During the break, it’s important to look at a distant object for twenty seconds. This changes the distance our eyes are focusing on and stretches our muscles.
Two hours is long enough for a person to play without a fifteen-minute break, even if mini-breaks have been taken before this.
3. Wear Special Glasses
As we mentioned earlier, there are blue-light-blocking glasses that can be used. Usually, they are yellow-tinted. They prevent the HEV (High Energy Visible) light from penetrating deeply into our eyes and risking retina damage. The melatonin levels of our bodies are also protected.
These hormones help regulate our sleep patterns, so we don’t want them disrupted. It’s for this reason that people are advised to not watch television or use a pc, laptop, tablet, or phone during the hour before bed.
Needless to say, such glasses should be prescription based. It’s therefore wise to speak to an eye specialist such as an optician. This particularly applies to short or long-sighted people or those who have astigmatism.
4. Be Wise With Lighting
Don’t make your gaming room into a cave! If the display screen is the only light in the room it may be more atmospheric, but the contrast will be harmful to your eyes. Each scene change will make the room a different brightness and place extra strain upon your sight. It will be like when you come indoors on a bright and sunny day.
Don’t put the display in front of a window or light. Use backlighting that is behind you. The more equal the light is in the room, the less glare there will be to assault your eyes. Fluorescent lamps or lights are particularly harmful.
5. Adjust The Screen
It can be beneficial to lower the brightness of the screen that you use. This will make the picture kinder to your eyes, and with phones and tablets, it will help conserve battery power.
The human eye doesn’t see the harmful blue light that comes from screens. Neither does it see them going on and off hundreds of times a second. Flicker-free screens are a solution, although they can be quite expensive. They usually feature an LPS display and blue light filter.
Software is also available that can achieve the same thing once it has been installed. The good news is also that it doesn’t put a strain on your CPU performance. The software also exists that is primarily designed to protect our sleep. It makes the screen display resemble the brightness of day and night, blending in with the lighting that you use.
Gaming is an intensely exciting activity thanks to modern technology. It’s also important to use technology to protect the health of our eyes. That way we can gain maximum enjoyment with the minimum amount of eye strain.
