Don’t Blink at the Wrong Time: Smart Glasses Inducing Timely Blinks

Blinking is essential for eye health, but its frequency decreases during concentration-intensive tasks, such as using Visual Display Terminals (VDTs) or playing musical instruments, potentially leading to dry eye syndrome. While systems exist to promote blinking, previous studies have not fully considered the adverse effects of eye closure during tasks or the timing of blinking. To address this, this study first investigated appropriate blink timing by having participants blink at designated moments while tracking a moving object on a PC screen. Results showed that blinking simultaneously with the object’s direction change significantly delayed tracking, confirming that certain blink timings negatively affect task execution. Based on these findings, this study proposes a system that induces reflexive blinking at optimal moments to prevent dry eyes while minimizing task disruption. The proposed system is an eyeglass-type device that detects suitable blinking moments using IMU sensors and wireless communication. Micro-blowers direct airflow onto the eyelashes, inducing reflexive blinking only at appropriate times. To evaluate whether the device can induce blinking at appropriate moments in practice, we conducted experiments under four task conditions: distant viewing, reading, video watching, and gaming. The system achieved an average blink induction rate of 61.4%. The median blink delay—defined as the time between the airflow stimulus and the user’s eyelid closure—was 342 ms for distant viewing, 392 ms for reading, 373 ms for video watching, and 506 ms for gaming. These findings indicate that the device is effective only when the duration of appropriate blinking moment exceeds these delays.