Due to some issues we all know about, the daily usage of cellphones has increased. According to the survey conducted by Twirgby people spend now 37% more time texting and 32% having video calls in comparison with the previous year. On the one hand, we have already adapted to such a dramatic increase in screen time spend. On the other, people (students especially) suffer from spine ache, headache, vision loss, depressions, and insomnia.
Luckily, many companies have implemented an adaptive color temperature feature called “night shift’ or “blue filter” in their gadgets. It is aimed at adjusting the temperature of the color displayed due to the time of day it is. The goal was to help people get ready for sleep. How does it work? The blue light is an extremely tricky thing. It may make your brain think that it is daytime, however, it might be a deep night. There are even some scientific evidence proving that blue light can affect your sleep-wake cycles.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic and a significant increase in device usage are strongly correlated we may assume that “night shift” could be a vital feature, even more valuable than ever before. The principle of this tool is simple. It transforms all blue colors into softer ones (blue to yellow) and prevents your eyes from seeing it as well as your brain from being tricked. Apple devices use your location in order to determine when the sun is supposed to raise and when the sunset is supposed to be. Some other phones/tablets also use their light sensors for such purposes. Presummerly, users are to turn on this button while working with a laptop/tablet/cellphone before sleeping so that our brain can understand that it is time to go to bed.
However, the study conducted recently reveals that blue color has the same impact on the mouse body as a yellow color. So scientists assumed that “night shift’ is a placebo that generates no effect. Although, we can not judge because there were no experiments carried out on humans.
What is more, a startup called Loona has created an app allowing you to watch some relaxing animations and even participate in them in order to “get in the right mood to sleep”. This app helps users to cope with stress, pressure, and difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep at night. The app uses three science-based components: art activity, music, and storytelling. It is a kind of lullaby slowly swaying you in your bed. The secure atmosphere creates a situation where the user is no more able to counteract sleep.
To sum up, I would like to say that I have always had a lot of interest around the fact that simple technology merged with human health can benefit to our body. And it is worth highlighting that the technology is really SIMPLE but extremely useful simultaneously.
Sources:
https://loona.app/ – Loona official website
Articles about blue light:
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-blue-light-from-disturbing-your-sleep
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-blue-light
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/block-blue-light-to-sleep-better
Articles with statistics related to phone usage:
https://leftronic.com/smartphone-usage-statistics/
https://niccs.us-cert.gov/about-niccs/featured-stories/evolution-smartphones-during-global-pandemic
https://www.twigby.com/?utm_source=pr%20newswire&utm_medium=release&utm_campaign=may_2020_survey – website of a company that carried out the survey
https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2020/04/how-online-learning-can-affect-student-health – article about the impact of online learning.
I am very interested in tracking my sleep using such programs. I use either Pillow or Sleep booster. The most exciting option is listening to your nightly conversations.
Yeah, that might be pretty funny)
I never thought that blue lights filters were a placebo.
Nice blog! I found it really interesting.
Actually, the blue filter is not a placebo. However, some scientists believe it to be.