By Sarah Hughes
Ever been scrolling click bait for what is probably the millionth time too many, yet you don’t want to stop?
Here is a techy, wishlist solution for when your thumbs are atrophying but you’re restless mind is so addicted to the blue light that there will be no stopping til long after bedtime. Blowing to scroll may not be so far off and may stave off carpal tunnel.
With the right inventor, smart screens could become sensitive to breathe for simple scrolling. Then if your thumbs need a break from use, as Lauren Bacall said in To Have and To Have Not, “Just put your lips together and blow.”
Amazingly, there may already be some alternatives for this. Watch this video of the Wattpad App claiming to demonstrate blow-scrolling in action: https://youtu.be/G9gwwS4FgNo
Blowser, an app by Hiroyasu Hirai, is available through iTunes. The app’s description says “It is a browser that can scroll blowing breath. Not a spelling error. Since breathe is what “Blow” ser.”
Wired features an article with a dorkier looking version of the interface attached to a PC at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas 2010 – See http://www.wired.com/2010/01/blow-zyxio-interface/. It seems logical changes have been made that have updated this to the devices at our fingertips.
Yes, you probably should put the phone or tablet down to stave off carpal tunnel but instead you want to just keep scrolling the depths of Facebook, in pursuit of that article all the way at the bottom. It may be as easy as blowing on a screen, once you pick one of the multiple options.
Quick Facts About Screen Time and Health:
Blue Light Consequences
Whether on television, phones or computers, screens dominate many of our everyday lives.
The modern convenience may come with a sacrifice to health, such as difficulty sleeping and carpal tunnel.
Most screens emit a great deal of blue light which can disrupt the sleep cycle.
According to the National Institutes of Health, “Not only does light reset the human circadian rhythm, but the same blue light that has the strongest impact on dinoflagellates [unicellular protists or photosynthetic matter] has equal power to reset our own clocks—although most visible wavelengths can reset the clock, the blues do the job with the greatest efficiency.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/
Screens on computers, tablets, televisions and cellphones have a great deal of blue light, which has the shortest wavelength in the visible color spectrum of light. Blue is the color that is scattered most efficiently by molecules in the atmosphere.
The Scientific American describes tech devices as light emitters, which have “a higher concentration of blue light than natural light—and blue light affects levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin more than any other wavelength.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/q-a-why-is-blue-light-before-bedtime-bad-for-sleep/
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel can cause permanent nerve damage and can eventually prevent the ability to grasp. It is a repetitive stress injury, often found in office settings.
According to https://medlineplus.gov/carpaltunnelsyndrome.html, “The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway of ligament and bones at the base of your hand. It contains nerve and tendons. Sometimes, thickening from irritated tendons or other swelling narrows the tunnel and causes the nerve to be compressed. Symptoms usually start gradually.”
Medline Plus also says, “Women are three times more likely to have carpal tunnel syndrome than men.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration summarizes good keyboarding habits as putting the keyboard directly in front of you, keeping shoulders relaxed with elbows close to the body and keeping wrists straight and in-line with the forearms.