Earlier this year I noticed I was suffering from eye-strain. I was suffering from headaches more frequently, I had difficulty focusing at the end of a long day on the computer, and was experiencing what can only be described as blurred vision whilst watching TV in an evening.

My office is well lit and I have great monitors, so as far as I knew the only other real preventative measure other than buying good screens and making sure you’re in a well-lit environment is to take regular breaks from the computer, which when you work on the PC isn’t always a viable option.

I wasn’t entirely sure eye-strain was the only issue though. While watching HD content, or playing high-res games I noticed things weren’t always as high-def as they should be. It felt like my left eye was having a harder time focusing than my right. That’s a weird sympton to explain, but as a gamer, I know HD when I see it!

So I paid a trip to the opticians, who told me my eyes were fine. She informed me that I was very slightly long sighted in my left eye, but not at a level that people would normally notice. That’s definitely the gamer in me. We know when a pixel isn’t appearing where it should be…

So the eye doctor gave me a prescription as a trial, more than anything else. She instructed me to try them out for a while, and see if it helps. And help they did.

Now I’m not an optician (honest), but I’d like to attempt to explain my prescription below:

• Spherical +0.25 a positive measurement (in dioptres) means long sighted, negative means short sighted.
• Cyclinder -0.75 the measurement (again, in dioptres) is the degrees of astigmatism. Astigmatism basically means the curve of your cornea – the focus lens of the eye – is not exactly symmetrical. 0.25 would mean your eyes are nearly round, 3.00 would mean your eyes are quite oval in shape.
• Axis 170 this is on scale of 180 to 0, basically the location of the astigmatism in degrees.

So from this reading, I am 0.25 dioptres long sighted, with 0.75 dioptres of astigmatism at an axis of 170 degrees. This is nothing. Typically you need an astigmatism of at least 1 to require glasses or contact lenses, and the same goes for the spherical measurement of short/long sightedness.

Now, as you can see my prescription was extremely weak, almost to the point of me wearing plain glass lenses. It’s for this reason I thought I’d give Gunnar Optiks a try.

Gunnar’s range of computer and gaming eyewear are prescription-free glasses for computer users and gamers, specifically designed to reduce eye-strain and the issues caused by long-term PC use or screen-watching. There are prescription options, for those who actually need a prescription to see, but for people with good eyesight, Gunnars are a protective / preventative measure.

THE SCIENCE: The orange-ish yellow lenses of most of their glasses basically filter out harsh artificial light, providing superior contrast. There’s a slight magnification of the lenses too, which provides better detail without messing with the resolution. The shape of all Gunner’s glasses are designed to prevent dryness of the eyes, by creating greater humidity closer to the eye. It’s truly fantastic tech.

The website claims Gunner Optiks help prevent eye fatigue and visual stress, and after testing these bad boys out for a few weeks now, I can totally attest to that. In the office I wear my prescribed glasses, with f.lux installed on my Windows PC, to add a slight yellow filter to the screen, cutting out the harsh light. At home, and especially when gaming, I wear my Gunner Optiks, with their in-built filter (which is handy, as consoles can’t install flux) and my eyesight has been great lately.

I was always quite sceptical of the whole “gaming glasses” phenomenon. I thought it was more of a fashion statement, than anything else. But now I’ve actually suffered from visual problems, and ended up trying the glasses out for myself, I can honestly say Gunner Optiks make for a better gaming experience.

The pair I went with were the Intercepts from the Gaming Eyewear range. $55.20 / €59.50 directly from Gunnar US | EU. I will say, they are a lot bigger in real life than what they seem in the photograph. In fact they’re quite massive, even on my big head. I’m not sure I’d wear them as a fashion item. I would like to try some of their smaller glasses, to see if they’re more trendy looking.

Overall, I would give a thumbs up to Gunnar Optiks, and an enormous recommendation to wearing them for computer use and gaming. But I’d probably give a bit of a thumbs down to the Intercept range, I’d say have a browse for something cooler, and make sure you check those measurements.