Optical and Motor Changes Associated with Lighting and near Vision Tasks in Electronic Devices

Purpose: To assess optical and motor changes associated with near vision reading under different controlled lighting conditions performed with two different types of electronic screens. Methods: Twenty-four healthy subjects with a mean age of 22.9 ± 2.3 years (18–33) participated in this study. An iPad and an e-ink reader were chosen to present calibrated text, and each task lasted 5 min evaluating both ambient illuminance level and luminance of the screens. Results: Eye-tracker data revealed a higher number of saccadic eye movements under minimum luminance than under maximum luminance. The results showed statistically significant differences between the iPad (p = 0.016) and the e-ink reader (p = 0.002). The length of saccades was also higher for the minimum luminance level for both devices: 6.2 ± 2.8 mm and 8.2 ± 4.2 mm (e-ink max vs min), 6.8 ± 2.9 mm and 7.6 ± 3.6 mm (iPad max vs min), and blinking rate increased significantly for lower lighting conditions. Conclusions: Performing reading tasks on electronic devices is highly influenced by both the configuration of the screens and the ambient lighting, meanwhile, low differences in visual quality that are transient in healthy young people, were found.