DESTRUCTOID: WIN FREE PAIR OF GUNNAR OPTIKS

How many hours out of the day do you sit and stare at a computer screen? Really? You never added it up? Go ahead. Think about it. It’s probably a lot more than you imagined. If you find yourself getting dry eyes, headaches or even losing energy, it might have to do with the amount of screen time in your day. Video games, computer gamers, internet, television watching.. it can all add up and you might not know what kind of damage you’re doing to your eyes until it’s too late.

One of my very first articles I wrote for The Gamer Report was a product from a company called Gunnar Optiks. I ended up buying a pair of their ‘gamer glasses’. I’m wearing the Phantoms as I type this. I had some symptoms that made me look into Gunnar and I can honestly say that these glasses have helped. It’s not a cure. You’re still going to get dry eyes and other symptoms, but those symptoms have definitely reduced for me since I started wearing them.

Destructoid has started a contest where you can win a pair. Head on over there and give it a shot. If you don’t win, I would still suggest looking into purchasing them. They might be expensive, but then again, I would assume buying some new eye balls would cost you even more. Check out my review, and then Google for other reviews if you need more opinions.

Destructoid:

“To win a pair for free, simply hit the comments and tell me about the worst headache (or other affliction) that you got from a case of hardcore gaming. Feel free to illustrate with video, pictures and reenactments, such as Rey’s amazing parody here. The contest is open to all countries and runs through October 21, ending at midnight EST. As always, if you have any questions, hit me up at colette@destructoid.com. Good luck, everyone!”

PRODUCT REVIEW: GUNNAR OPTIKS GAMER GLASSES

Do you sit in front of your computer for countless amount of hours everyday? Do your eyes start to feel tired and noticeably dry? Do you catch yourself forgetting to blink due to hours of intense gaming, blogging or 3D modeling? It might be time to invest in a pair of new computer glasses that can protect your eyes from harmful florescent lights and computer glare. No, it’s not just for computer geeks! Millions of Americans whose jobs require them to sit in front of a computer for the majority of their day might want to check this product out. I’ll tell you why.

All day at my place of work, I am required to use many different software programs in order to do my job. (A lot of that time is spent internet surfing. Sorry, it’s an addiction.) I started to notice, the more hours I spent looking at the screen, the more headaches I got. I’m not one who regularly gets headaches, maybe once every few months but not every single day, which is what started to happen the more hours I put in. I guess it doesn’t help that I go home and spend another 3-6 hours of working in Autodesk Maya or Adobe Photoshop, but what am I supposed to do? It’s my job, it’s my hobby, I NEED to be on the computer constantly in order to further pursue my career.

First thing I noticed when I put on the Gunnar Optiks Phenom glasses was the lack of weight. Now, I haven’t worn glasses since I was in first grade but I still remember them being noticeably heavy and kind of annoying to have on your face in general. However, what Gunnar Optiks has done is to create a whole new class of glasses which can really benefit people in the gaming industry. They’re lightweight, durable, the frames are flexible and can easily confine to different size heads, (they’re not like my sunglasses, when I put them on, they feel like they’re trying to pop my skull like a pimple. Sorry if you had a disturbing visual.) and their claim of reduced eye strain as well as protection against full-blown Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) gave me more than enough reason to try them out.

Now the question is, do they work? The first week I tried these out, I have to admit, wearing computer glasses was hard to get used to. Unfortunately, the new experience of wearing glasses after 20 years of not wearing them, gave me a mixed first reaction on whether or not Gunnar Optiks claims are legit. I was not used to having something sitting on the bridge of my nose and it made me feel a bit nauseous.

I decided to keep on keepin‘ on and tried them out for a second week. One thing I noticed before I started wearing these was the actual fatigue I would experience from sitting at the computer for hours on end. I started running out of energy by just sitting! That can’t be right, can it? Well, I’ve come to realize that it can. Because after wearing these glasses, I have seen an increase in energy and production. I’m no longer exhausted when leaving work. I have energy again to come home and work on other projects. OK, so you still have to get up and walk away from your computer for a few minutes, maybe do a bit of stretching, or go for a quick walk.. I’m not saying this is a total cure! But do these computer/gamer glasses work? My experience shows that yes, yes they do indeed work. Will it work for you? That remains to be seen. But if you have any of the CVS symptoms, (headaches, blurred vision, neck pain, fatigue, eye strain, dry eyes) what do you got to lose besides your eye sight?