What is computer vision syndrome – and how can I prevent it? 什么是计算机视觉综合症？如何预防？

Do you sit in front of a screen at work for hours, then leave with a headache, sore, dry, blurry eyes and a painful neck? If so, welcome to computer vision syndrome (CVS), a condition just waiting to happen to those who use a screen for more than three hours a day. This happens to be quite a lot of us – about 70 million worldwide. At the risk of being alarmist, some researchers argue that CVS is the “No 1 occupational hazard of the 21st century”. But back pain, tension headaches and discomfort are not inevitable consequences of screen time – perhaps we should simply be more careful. At the very least, we should encourage our children to develop good screen habits.

你是不是坐在屏幕前工作几小时之后，感觉头痛、酸痛、干燥、眼部模糊以及颈部疼痛?如果是这样的话，那么你就是得了计算机视觉综合症(CVS)，那些每天在屏幕前工作3小时以上的人一般都会出现这些症状。许多人都已经有这一病症——世界上约有70,000,000人。虽然有点危言耸听，但是一些研究者称计算机视觉综合症是21世纪第一大职业危险。但是背痛、紧张性头痛以及不舒服并不是看屏幕时间过长所引起的必然结果。或许我们仅仅应该更加注意一些。我们至少应该鼓励我们的孩子养成良好的屏幕习惯。

What can we do about it?

我们可以如何处理计算机视觉综合症呢?

Eyes work harder when they read from a screen because computer images are made of pixels, tiny dots that have a bright centre and blurred edges. Printed images and words, by comparison, are solid and well-defined. Our eyes constantly have to focus, relax and refocus to read the pixels, which tires out the muscles. The 20-20-20 rule to combat this says you should take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and focus on points 20ft from your computer. When we look at a screen, we don’t blink as much as we do normally, so consciously doing so will moisten your eyes and reduce irritation.

当我们在屏幕上阅读的时候，我们的眼睛工作很困难，因为电脑图像由像素、小点形成，而且有明亮中心区域以及模糊的边缘区域。打印的图像以及单词，对比来看，要更加清晰、界限明确。我们的眼睛不得不集中、放松、再集中来阅读像素，这样会造成眼部疲劳。对抗这一问题的20-20-20法则称，你应当每20分钟之后就休息20秒，而且距离电脑的距离应为20英尺。当我们看屏幕的时候，我们眨眼的次数要比平常少，所以自觉这样做就可以保持眼部湿润，减少刺激。

When it comes to the distance you sit from the screen, how you sit and the optimum level for reading documents, it becomes rather prescriptive. It’s more comfortable to look down at a screen, so keep yours 15 to 20 degrees below eye level (about 10-13cm, or 4-5in), as measured from the centre of the screen.

当说到座位距离屏幕尺寸、如何坐以及阅读文件的最标准水准的时候，那就相当规范了。低头看屏幕会更加舒服，所以要保持屏幕低于眼部水平15—20度(约为10—13厘米或者4—5英寸)，从屏幕中心测量。