The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	The effects of blue light from digital displays on visual fatigue
Author:	Taboadela, Victor
View Online:	njit-etd2023-063 (ix, 42 pages ~ 0.8 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Occupational Safety and Health Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Sengupta, Arijit K. (Committee chair) Bladikas, Athanassios K. (Committee member) Lieber, Samuel (Committee member)
Date:	2023-12
Keywords:	Occupational safety and health engineering Ergonomics Blue light effects Digital display technology
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	With the ever-increasing viewing time of digital displays, the potential effects of blue light emitted from these displays on eye health and eye fatigue are a real concern. This study presents a literature review of six laboratory studies conducted between 2014 and 2022 on the effect of using filters to attenuate the harmful effects of blue light. The review delves into smartphone and computer screen effects, recent literature reviews on blue light, and potential hazards associated with short-wavelength light. Although the majority of the studies recommended blue light filters, only three of the six laboratory studies (Shi et al. 2021, Tu et al. 2021, Lin et al. 2017) found significant positive effects. A pilot study was conducted with six participants, focusing on the immediate effects of blue light exposure from an 18-inch screen of a laptop computer, while playing a graphic-based and a text-based game with three filter conditions, no-filter, an eyeglass filter, and a digital filter. Eye fatigue symptoms of tired eyes, sore eyes, dry eyes, and blurred vision showed a reduction of perceived ratings when blue light filters were used. Symptoms of tired eyes, and dry eyes reached a significant level of p-value ,< 0.5 improvement over no filter. The digital filter, which has not been tested before for computer screens, provided a statistically significantly better rating than the eyeglass filter. While the results suggest an improvement for those using blue light filter technologies and may help to advocate for more blue light blocking technology in workplace design, the overall conclusion underscores the ongoing need for comprehensive research, considering limitations such as the small sample size of the pilot study and the absence of long-term effects research.