Who uses their smartphone or tablet in bed? All of us, that’s who. Most of us know this habit is the cause for many a disrupted night’s rest, but a new set of glasses from Japan may give us the protection we need.
J!ns’ Screen Night Use glasses claim to be able to reduce blue light exposure by 60 percent. While there are other glasses that shield our eyes from blue light, these are slimmer and specifically designed for bedtime use. J!ns’ specs are hookless and feature shorter arms, meaning the frames won’t cause discomfort even if you’re browsing with your head against a pillow.
Exposure to light has an alerting effect on the human brain, boosting attention, reaction times and mood. Naturally, this isn’t helpful at night as we’re getting ready to sleep. Blue light, the type of light emitted by smartphones and tablets, is even worse, reducing our secretion of melatonin (a hormone that helps us sleep) more than regular light — and up to twice as long as green light, according to Harvard research. In other words, binging on cute cat videos on YouTube for an hour before bed isn’t as harmless as it seems.
The J!ns’ Screen Night Use frames come in four colours and are priced at ¥4,900, which converts to around $45, AU$60 or £30.
There are other ways to battle the harmful effects of blue light, including various apps, such as Flux, which change the type of light a smartphone or computer outputs based on the time of day.