Intelligent Standalone Eye Blinking Monitoring System for Computer Users

Purpose: Working on computers for long hours has become a regular task for millions of people around the world. This has led to the increase of eye and vision issues related to prolonged computer use, known as computer vision syndrome (CVS). A main contributor to CVS caused by dry eyes is the reduction of blinking rates. In this pilot study, an intelligent, standalone eye blinking monitoring system to promote healthier blinking behaviors for computer users was developed using components that are affordable and easily available in the market. Methods: The developed eye blinking monitoring system used a camera to track blinking rates and operated audible, visual and tactile alarm modes to induce blinks. The hypothesis in this study is that the developed eye blinking monitoring system would increase eye blinks for a computer user. To test this hypothesis, the developed system was evaluated on 20 subjects. Results: The eye blinking monitoring system detected blinks with high accuracy (95.9%). The observed spontaneous eye blinking rate was 43.1 ± 14.7 blinks/min (mean ± standard deviation). Eye blinking rates significantly decreased when the subjects were watching movie trailers (25.2 ± 11.9 blinks/min; Wilcoxon signed rank test; p < 0.001) and reading articles (24.2 ± 12.1 blinks/min; p < 0.001) on a computer. The blinking monitoring system with the alarm function turned on showed an increase in blinking rates (28.2 ± 12.1 blinks/min) compared to blinking rates without the alarm function (25.2 ± 11.9 blinks/min; p = 0.09; Cohen’s effect size d = 0.25) when the subjects were watching movie trailers. Conclusions: The developed blinking monitoring system was able to detect blinking with high accuracy and induce blinking with a personalized alarm function. Further work is needed to refine the study design and evaluate the clinical impact of the system. This work is an advancement towards the development of a profound technological solution for preventing CVS.