Can Wearable Tech Like Google Glass Harm Your Vision?
Wearable tech is here, whether you were prepared for it or not. You may be excited by the prospect of a heads up computer display appearing in your field of vision or directly on the surface of your glasses, or you may be terrified.
Google Glass, the first product that really got consumers interested in and excited about the possibilities of wearable tech (unless you count the Apple Watch), hasn’t launched as a consumer product yet, but many of its competitors have.
Google is still improving its product, choosing to sell it only in business to business contexts, while other companies are happily launching similar devices. But what will wearable tech like Google Glass do to the state of our vision, and the health of our eyes?
Google Glass and the Health of Your Vision
What many people may be concerned about regarding these new wearable tech glasses, beyond whether their power and versatility justifies their steep price points, is whether using these devices could adversely affect a person’s vision. It’s a reasonable concern given issues that have already been discovered regarding eyestrain and computer screens.
And, while the verdict may still be out in regards to the long-term effects of wearable tech on your eyesight, we do know enough to make some general conclusions about how Google Glass, and other similar products, will affect a user’s vision.
Eyestrain With Google Glass and Wearable Tech
Computer eyestrain is a serious issue in most of the developed world. Between sixty and ninety percent of workers who spend most or all of their days in front of computer screens report eye fatigue, and exhibit symptoms of computer eyestrain.
Early reports from those who’ve had the opportunity to use Google Glass and other comparable wearable tech devices have reported similar issues, including actual eye pain when using the devices for anything more than just occasional function.
Headaches Associated With Google Glass
Additionally, many of the people who have had the opportunity to use Google Glass and other similar wearable tech devices have reported an alarmingly high potential for developing headaches while wearing the devices.
Early data seems to suggest that the headaches associated with wearable tech devices stem from eyestrain, but there is some concern that the headaches caused by using these machines may stem from eye confusion – the brain’s reaction to one eye seeing what the other cannot.
Human beings have bicameral vision, and there are rumors that future iterations of these devices will come with something like a stereo display, allowing for the eyes to make a single image from what is presented on both lenses.
Easing Into Things Like Wearable Tech
Google recommends easing into using wearable tech, much as one would ease into a new prescription for their glasses or contact lenses. According to Google and other manufacturers, while the devices are not meant to be used for hours of computing, video streaming, and the like, easing into them will eventually help with the headaches, if not the eyestrain.
For now, the verdict is still out on the long-term effects these devices may have on a user’s vision.
[Photo via: Wikimedia]