Photography from Zeiss #seeingbeyond conference, Berlin, October 2019
Your visual behaviour has changed. Think about how much time you spend on your smartphone throughout the day. More than you would like to admit? Me too.
We were one of only 1,000 optical stores world-wide invited to the Zeiss #seeingbeyond conference in Berlin, October 2019, where Zeiss first publicised their research on how smartphone usage has changed the way we interact visually with the world around us, and unveiled their new SmartLife technology.
Zeiss used head tracking and eye tracking technology to measure if holding a smartphone changes how we see the world around us. To their surprise, their research found that we move our head less than expected, and move our eyes far more.
It turns out we’re constantly, sub-consciously, using our peripheral vision to check our surrounding while looking at our smartphone. What’s more, we read significantly faster (up to around 500 words per minute) when reading a smartphone than reading a book (roughly 300 words per minute. If you’re curious why that is, it’s because we are also navigating with our thumbs while our eyes are working.
On top of all that, we tend to hold a smartphone at an unusual angle and distance relative to our eyes.
All of these factors push the limitations of conventional lenses, which were designed at a time when our digital lives were completely different.
Zeiss SmartLife lenses support your eyes throughout the day, allowing easy focus changing between your smartphone and your surroundings. They are designed for anyone 20+, and have been trialed by 3,000 patients in Asia, none of whom rejected the lenses, and 96% of whom found the lenses better than their previous ones.
SmartLife lenses also contain one other, crucial feature. They protect your eyes from UV radiation to the same standard as high quality sunglasses. This is something you should take very seriously, as UV exposure significantly increases your risk of eye disease and skin cancer around the eyes. And UV is present all year round, even on cloudy days.
Ask us for a virtual reality demonstration of Zeiss SmartLife lenses, so you can try them before you buy.
If you have any questions regarding this amazing new technology, just contact me either through Twitter (@specfactory) or email (rob@thespectaclefactory.com)
