The digital world has progressed fast, enough to leave several disconnects between the different generations that exist today. One which never saw a computer, TV or mobiles during their times, another which lived in the age of B&W television for the most part of it and the current which has seen the age of color TVs, LCD, Laptops, Computers, Tablet computers and overall the mobile phones. Clearly, the amount of digital viewing today is far more than ever before and it would only get worse.
This change has brought its own lot of challenges for the human body. We are already seeing a very vocal tech community when it comes to wrist, neck and lower back issues due to excessive computing. Diseases like ‘Blackberry Thumb’ is now becoming common talk. People are cautioned, ergonomic accessories are sold & new exercises are learnt. But what about the strain on our eyes with all these staring at a digital screen? A certain set of school kids with glasses due to excessive television is already known to us, we grew up with them, we are them! Imagine what would be the fate of the next generation? This is where Gunnar Optics is innovating, pushing the human limits, fighting Digital Eye Fatigue or Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).
I have so far been fortunate to have perfect vision, even with the constant 10 hours plus computing days for the past several years. On my last visit to a doctor for eye checkup, I was only prescribed certain eye drops to avoid drying up of eyes when working on a computer. That’s it. Many around me move around with a certain anti-glare coating on their eyewear and I have myself owned glasses from a local optician to just cut down the glare when working on the computer. But most of that has always been superstition. Fear at work. With no evident improvement in vision or viewing.
Gunnar Rocket Onyx evens out the viewing across multiple screens (specially in my case where I use a dual monitor setup) with an amber tint, the brightness or contrast difference between these screens don’t bother me anymore. My internet existence involves dealing with never ending stream of emails, articles, twitter feed, youtube and writing. Once used to the comfort of Gunnar eyewear, it is hard to focus continuously at so much text flowing in front of me. In that respect, my capacity to work uninterrupted when staring at a computer screen has surely improved. There seems to be a minor power on the Gunnar glasses that brings the screen closer to me, I am hoping this would avoid help leaning my neck towards the screen, but yet to be certain about it.
After close to a months of use, it is hard to spend much time in front of a computer screen without a Gunnar eyewear! The Gunnar Rocket is well crafted, the amber tinted glasses are fashionable enough and it works well for someone like me who spends 10 hours+ a day staring at computer screens. There isn’t a doubt that this eases irritation when staring at a computer screen and improves focusing power by cutting out glare. But at $89 / INR 4,500, it would be the most expensive eye-wear most of us would have ever purchased. We would live in the hope to see this thing cost below Rs 2,000 someday. For now, the ones interested can grab one here.
