Computer Vision Syndrome or CVS is a term that was coined by Dr. James Sheedy of the American Optometrists Association in 1986. According to the AOA and other health bodies like NIOSH, OSHA and WHO, anywhere Between 80% to 90% of all computer users, who use the computer for more than two hours a day , suffer form CVS. The way things stand today almost anyone using a compute uses it for more than 2 hours daily ……and almost everyone uses a computer!

At this point I would like to elaborate more on CVS.

“Computer Vision Syndrome is defined as a complex of eye and vision disorders related to ‘near-work’ which are experienced during or are related to computer usage.”

When we say eye and vision disorders we mean:

To Most computer users these are part and parcel of the profession. They tend to think this is bound to happen. They ignore these signs which are trying to say that something needs to be corrected.

The health organizations mentioned above have listed some serious and Permanent disorders which have occurred in cases where the users chose to Ignore all warnings.

The long term ill – effects of CVS are –

The number of sufferers across the world is now officially more than 400 million and this number is growing exponentially with the IT era accelerating at full throttle. All the success is at the cost of the vision of the IT professionals .

Having established the seriousness of the problem, we need to understand the cause. Only then is an effective solution possible. Since the computer users are the ones suffering we’ll look at their task of computing.

Computer work is very strenuous for the eye. There are two reasons for this-

1. It involves reading on a flickering source.

When we read, we have to focus on each letter so that our brain can actually Put together all images and make sense out of it. To focus on an object the eye has to adapt to the brightness of that object (ADAPTATION) and the lens has to adjust ot the distance, so that the image is clear (ACCOMMODATION). Apart form these two processes our eyes also have to Converge so that we get only one image on the object (CONERGENCE). Since reading involves constant focusing and refocusing it puts a relatively high degree of stress on the eye muscles as compared to normal visual tasks.

To add to this, computer monitor is a flickering source, flickering at about 60 – 75 Hz. This flicker, although not visible to the naked eye is perceived by The brain because the optical tract can perceive flicker upto 200 Hz. In addition to this most computer work environments are lit by standard tubelights which at flicker at 50 Hz. Thus while working on the computer we are actually subjected to two different frequencies and this imbalance can cause severe headaches and eyestrain.

2. It involves reading from sources at different light intensities.

Any computer user who is using a reference or source document while working on the computer, has to constantly shift focus between the document, the monitor screen, the keyboard and the surroundings. Each of these has a different brightness with the contrast ratio sometimes reaching 1:30. Therefore each time the user shifts focus, he has to perform all the three Processes, which are Adaptation, Accommodation and Convergence.

The eye requires about 15 – 20 minutes for dark / light adaptation. E.g. Switching on the lights in a dark room in the middle of the night, entering a Theatre after the movie has started, etc.

However during computer work the user adjusts to these varying brightness Within spilt seconds. This strain is almost equivalent to the strain that we would feel doing 50 push ups per minute!

After being abused in this manner, any other visual pollutant can further burden the visual system severely. E.g. an window in the visual field, a reflection on the monitor screen, overlite environment, etc.

Thus the work environment of the computer user is as critical for his visual health as the task itself.

Just when we think the eyes have had enough a brief discussion with some of these users revealed the fact that after sitting at their workstations for upto 10 hours they go home and watch television or read for hours. And it doesn’t stop there, the lighting for both these tasks generally, is highly inappropriate. CVS is bound to happen. There are just too many factors at play.

That is exactly where we come in. We are using principles of ergonomics and light to eliminate each and every one of these factors.

The Healthy Computing environment created by us has three categories –

1. Environmental Changes

2. Workstation Changes

3. User specific Changes

1. Environmental Changes

This part of the implementation looks into the lighting environment of the Computer workstation. The quantity, quality and distribution of light are all adjusted to create a comfortable, healthy and soothing environment.

• Quantity of light- the quantity of light is task specific. You can’t ask a diamond cutter to work under a reading lamp. Light is also instrumental in the way we feel, our mood etc. An overlite environment can bring on environment can make a person feel very comfortable even if he is feeling really tired. We adjust the light levels to match the task taking into consideration the person’s age, his visual health etc.
• Quantity of light- the quantity of light is adjusted so that the lighting is closer to natural sunlight. (either incandescent or 2700K) which is the most comfortable light for our eyes. E.g. sunlight during sunset and sunrise
• Distribution of light – the quantity of light in the environment is adjusted so that the light level at his workstation is about 3 times the ambient light level. Due to this every time a user looks away form his workplace his eye muscles can relax. This reduces the cumulative stain caused in the course of the day.

2. Workstation changes

The arrangement of a workstation decides the comfort level of the user during the course of the day. The height of the chair, the position of the monitor etc.

Peripherals like monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, etc. all determine whether or not the user  is causing any excessive strain to his joints or muscles. Wrong positioning of these items can cause severe Repetitive Stress Injuries like: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Frozen Shoulder, Tendonitis etc.

We remove all accelerators of RSI’s by rearrangement of the components of the workstation, thus making the user much more comfortable in his existing environment. The second important factor of the workstation is the lighting level at the workstation. A user needs light on the workstation depending on various factors like nature of work, age, visual health, mood, etc. Hence it is important to provide a source which is adjustable as per each users needs.

In addition to this, computer work demands very specific light distribution. It requires 400 – 600 LUX in the horizontal plane and about 150 – 200 LUX in vertical plane in front of the computer monitor. The light should be such that it mitigates the perception of flicker of the computer monitor, which makes a significant contribution to the eyestrain felt by the computer users.

3. Users Specific Changes

We audit each users work habits and work content to prepare a customized Solution as per the specific need of each user. E.g. seating posture, posture of hands, posture of neck, no. of hours of work, etc. In addition we also look into the visual health, ocular history and most important recreational habits of the computer user. For the computer user lighting conditions under which he watches television or reads at night can seriously affect his visual condition. We look into those habits of the user as well and give him recommendations accordingly.

A solution which did not look into each of these areas would not be complete. If the user had perfect light distribution but his workstation arrangement was All wrong he would still suffer. If everything in his environment was perfect but he still went home and watched television without any ambient light it would only be a matter of time before his eyes gave in. Thus this is a problem which needs to be tackled on a war footing, taking everything into account.

We wish to take your expert opinion and input in improving our solution So that we can achieve a work environment which is ideal for a computer user. We want to attack this problem at it’s root and fight CVS before each and every one of us is a victim.