I wonder what effects VR and AR will have on this.

Article misses the mark a little bit. "Outdoors" preventing myopia isn't about focusing distance, it's about light levels. Dimmer light makes the eye think it isn't done growing, so it grows more.

You can replicate those light levels indoors, if you're bloody minded enough to do so. It's somewhat expensive but for a tech-enabled crowd not too difficult.

You need about 10x to 100x the lighting most people are satisfied with indoors, and you need to turn it on whenever you're in the room and leave it on between sunrise and sunset. This is easiest with timers and automation.

The most important thing about all of this is to realize that children NEED outdoor recess sometime between the hours of 10am and 2pm every day. They don't have to be directly exposed to the sun, but they need to be in an environment with >1000 lux, more is generally better, for a number of hours. This will prevent their growing eyes from continuing to grow indefinitely.

We know this because there was an intervention in Taiwan, which has extremely high myopia levels in children (80%+ last I heard), and it dropped myopia from ~80% to ~35% in the intervention group. That's an astounding effectiveness for something free.

Hmm. I am 67 and require no corrective lenses. Two years ago, at my last exam, the doctor said I was “the one percent of the one percent of people” my age that do not require glasses. All of my siblings and both of my parents wore glasses.

Most of my professional life has been spent staring at screens, usually in darkened rooms, so I have no idea why my sight is still good.

> In my opinion, it’s too early, too ambiguous, and the jury is out on whether myopia can actually be reversed.

We do need studies on if/why/how myopia reduction works for some people.

However, we already know a guaranteed way to increase myopia:

  1. Wear corrective lens for 20/20 vision for distant objects, e.g. driver license vision test.
  2. Keep wearing distance lens for closeup, e.g. phone at 12".
  3. Keep wearing distance lens for near work, e.g. book or laptop at 24".
  4. Keep wearing distance lens for intermediate, e.g. monitor at 36".
  5. Eye adapts (more myopia) to get 20/20 vision at daily focusing distance, e.g. work laptop.
  6. Optometrist measures that distance correction with lens is now worse than 20/20.
  7. Optometrist increases distance correction to get back to 20/20, for legal (e.g. driving) compliance.
  8. Go to Step 1.

This loop can be broken by measuring the distance in #5 and buying dedicated lens/contacts for that distance. This reduces the burden on both eye and brain.

This article is written in a way that will propagate the myth that screens are bad for your eyes. Screens are not uniquely bad. The myopia epidemic is not caused by screens per se, but by a lack of time outdoors during childhood. What is it about time outdoors that prevents myopia? It is some combination of much brighter light, broader light spectrum, and objects in your peripheral vision being farther away. I don't think it is fully known yet which of these factors is most important, and I am skeptical of claims that one in particular is to blame over the others. But ultimately some combination of these factors provides the signal to your retina to stop growing once it reaches the right size, which prevents myopia.

As long as you get a few hours outdoors most days during childhood, it doesn't really matter (from the perspective of myopia prevention) if you spend your indoor time in front of a screen or not. And if you don't get that outdoor time, avoiding screens won't save you from myopia. Screens are not really relevant here except to the extent that they encourage children to spend less time outside. You could just as easily blame HVAC or other conveniences of modern homes that make it nicer to stay inside.

Spending a couple thousand on LASIK was the best investment I’ve ever made. The money I’ve saved on prescription glasses alone has already paid for lot of it, and ten years later my distance vision is still nearly perfect. Now only if there was a similar procedure for my neck and posture..

Try to experience an hour of 10,000 nits outdoor brightness per day.

I just purchased some computer glasses that are optimized for about 38 inches. (A little short of a meter.) I get no eyestrain, and looking far away isn't awful.