American Optometric Association Creates Eye-Friendly Mobile Game

In June, the American Optometric Association (AOA) recently released a new mobile game called Blink Land. The nonprofit explains that the game’s goal is to increase the public’s awareness of eye health, especially regarding screen time. It emphasizes how gaming can be an excellent tool for creating healthier habits for taking care of one’s eyes.

Available on both Android Playstore and Apple Appstore, the AOA hopes that Blink Land will be able to make a difference in how people today pay attention to their eye health. Here’s exactly how the game does that:

What Blink Land is about

Blink Land is a virtual board game guided by a character called Blink. Players will be drawn into different minigames related to healthy eye care habits as soon as they choose their avatar. For example, Space It Out will have them move their character away from a screen to just the right distance to prevent eye strain. Another minigame, Moistur-Eyes, will have players catch as many eye drops as possible to score the highest points.

Some players may even roll their dice to land on a trivia question. These will ask them about all kinds of facts, such as how glasses work and what can cause eye strain. Presenting knowledge through gamified quizzes will help ingrain the information in players’ minds without boring them.

Players may pick up valuable ways to take better care of their eyes along the way. This was the ultimate goal of the AOA – to make learning about their eyes an enjoyable experience. But why is eye health so crucial in today’s world?

The importance of eye health

The WHO explains that on an international level, over two billion people suffer from some form of vision impairment. Another 1.1 billion experience vision loss. On a more local level, around 12 million people in the US over 40 have vision impairment, while 93 million are at high risk for severe vision loss — but only half have visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months. Unfortunately, this trend is a global one. In an article asking “are Canadians taking care of their vision,” statistics found that one in three Canadians needs an eye exam, with one in seven at risk for permanent blindness. It is vital to have your eyes checked regularly, with the prescribed intervals being every 24 months for adults and every 12 for children.

Regular eye exams are critical for good health because aside from the typical vision impairment conditions, such as nearsightedness and farsightedness, other preventable diseases may occur if left unchecked, including macular degeneration, cataracts, and amblyopia (also known as “lazy eye”). A greater emphasis on eye health in North America and worldwide can lead to a society prioritizing vision wellness. The AOA hopes to bring just that with Blink Land.

Eye health and games

Games have long been seen as detrimental to eye health. As more and more people have increased screen time, their eyes become fatigued and strained by unnatural light and overfocus on the gameplay. Blink Land hopes to break this by reminding players of how to take care of themselves, whether by encouraging them to blink more or by reminding them of how many hours they should have playing games.

Gaming can also be made less strenuous by making a few changes. Playing in the dark can make your eyes absorb too much light, so having a different light source can make a difference. Baseus’ Monitor Light Bar is a great option as it can illuminate a player’s space without bombarding them with too much light, leading to less strain. Using a big monitor at a safe distance can also help your eyes feel less tired, as players will need less eye focus to see their screens.

At the end of the day, gaming isn’t bad as long as it is done safely. And with Blink Land, AOA is taking the relationship between eye health and games to a new level by making learning more fun.