The other day I noticed something funny happening. To set the scene, recall that humans are wired to detect other humans' gaze direction as a method of figuring out where the important stuff is happening at the moment. Robots are working on this too.
For the last several months I've been having problems with eye strain after using my computer for too long at a time, so I've been using RSI prevention software to remind me to look away from the screen every so often. (I use TimeOut (review here) because it doesn't reset its timer if you leave the mouse alone for 10 seconds while you're reading something.)
When anyone else is in the room and I look up from my laptop to stare fixedly at the opposite wall, about half the time they will look up too, wondering just what is so interesting about that light fixture or Periodic Table poster. It usually takes them several seconds to figure out that I'm not actually looking at anything in particular... we're just so used to thinking of gaze direction changes as highly meaningful.
Of course, this indicates to me that almost everyone I know needs to look away from their screens more often. Do it right now (seriously, I don't mind waiting) ...................................................................
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you'll be surprised how your eyes feel when they refocus.
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