Letter: Blinking good advice

From Martin Beer

I noticed your piece about Hewlett-Packard’s advice to blink periodically
(Feedback, 27 June).

This isn’t as daft as it sounds. An increasing number of people are visiting
their doctors because of “dry-eye”— the eyes become itchy, due to lack of
moisture on the surface of the eyeball.

When using a computer, there is a tendency to stare at the screen and not
blink as much as usual, hence the reminder to blink occasionally, which wipes a
film of tears over the eyeball.

I have even heard of some IT departments incorporating a small programme to
flash “BLINK” on users’ screens periodically as a reminder.

London