Screens that prevent us from falling asleep can be redesigned to give us a well-earned rest, say scientists from the universities of Manchester and Basel.
Professor Rob Lucas and Dr Annette Allen from University of Manchester are at the helm of the research, which could transform displays in smartphones, televisions, computer screens and tablets. Their twist is merely adding another colour to the screen display.
The researchers — who published their European Research Council-funded study in the journal Sleep — said the technology could help people who work night shifts by keeping them from dozing off in front of a computer. The device, which the researchers call a 'melanopic display', enables users to control how alert the screen makes them feel while enhancing the visual experience of screens.
Conventional displays comprise three primary colours, red, green and blue, which match the three types of photoreceptors — the cells that respond to light — in people's eyes. After a series of experiments, the team added cyan, a fourth primary colour, which controls the melanopsin cells in the eye. These cells are responsible for detecting light, usually during the day. The new technology enables users to alter the amount of cyan light on screens.
The 11 participants in the study reported feeling more alert when the cyan light was turned up, and sleepier when it was turned down. Participants watched a movie with and without cyan display, and researchers recorded how sleepy they felt afterwards and the amount of melatonin, a hormone produced at night, in their saliva.
When exposed to more cyan light, participants felt more alert. They felt sleepier when it was dimmed. Their melatonin levels were also higher when cyan was dimmed. "This outcome is exciting because it tells us that regulating exposure to cyan light alone, without changing colour, can influence how sleepy we feel," Professor Lucas said. "Our study also shows how we can use that knowledge to improve the design of visual displays." He believes this display, although currently built for data projectors, could be widely used on any kind of screen. "Such displays could help phone obsessed teenagers fall asleep, or support alertness in people who need to use a computer at night," he said. Dr Allen said, "The new display design could have a wider benefit as it seems that this technology also improves image appearance." |
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