Performance Enhancing Eyewear Provides Safety and Vision Enhancement
Good vision and safety are always critical, and performance-enhancing eyewear keeps you from deciding between the two. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize you can have both in one pair of safety eyewear.
For most, safety eyewear exists to protect eyes from hazards like foreign and blunt objects, the UV rays of the sun, and chemical splash. But, again, this is common knowledge for most people, even if they don’t regularly wear safety eyewear.
However, safety eyewear can also significantly enhance vision and thus performance too. More and more athletes are figuring this out, but it’s also a fact that those in the workplace can embrace.
Several studies support the idea of performance-enhancing eyewear by showing the link between vision and performance. This proven link helps all of us realize that doing the best job we can requires having the sharpest vision possible.
Performance Enhancing Eyewear Features to Consider
Beyond employing habits that promote good eye health, enhanced vision also involves Selecting the Right Safety Eyewear for the task at hand. This means choosing eyewear based on comfort, style, and wearability, which requires a great deal of personal preference. These points speak mostly to maintaining good vision and enhancing it.
There are a couple of features to consider as keys to enhanced vision. Lens shade and light control options stand out as the best ways to improve vision during sports, in the workplace, or while working around the house.
Lens Shade and Performance Enhancing Eyewear
Numerous options are available in lens shades for performance-enhancing eyewear, and your choice depends primarily on your specific situation. Fortunately, there is a lens shade for almost every lighting situation.
Grey tints are versatile and work in situations that call for good color discrimination. Brown tones work well in varying light conditions and help reduce glare. Brown hues also filter blue light, making them an excellent choice for those working on computers and even might help night shift workers sleep better. Finally, the green tint offers contrast for golfers, pilots, and boaters.
There are also red, yellow, and orange tints, each with their specific uses. Red is ideal where detail is essential and yellow tones enhance contrast and depth, such as those found in early mornings, sunsets, and rainy days. Orange works well in intermittent or foggy light conditions.
Many people find that one lens tint does not fit all their needs, not even an all-purpose gray tint. So instead, these individuals opt for multi-lens safety eyewear and change lens colors as needed.
Light Control in Performance Enhancing Eyewear
There are three main features to consider when looking at light control in performance-enhancing eyewear. Those features are polarized lenses, anti-reflective coating, and photochromic lenses.
Both polarized and AR-coated lenses aim to reduce glare and the fatigue it causes, but each primarily serves a different purpose. Likewise, photochromic lenses, while a must for some, are not the best fit for every person and situation.
Polarized Lenses
Polarized lenses enhance vision by reducing glare while maintaining clarity, performance, and durability. They work best outside to reduce glare from smooth surfaces like ice, water, and glass. They also enhance vision by reducing eye stress and fatigue, which excessive glare often causes.
Polarized safety eyewear improves vision for most individuals in bright sunlight. Examples of people who might find them particularly useful include construction workers, road construction crews, fishermen, anyone driving any vehicle, and most outdoor athletes.
Anti-Reflective (AR) Coating
AR-coated lenses reduce glare at the lens surface both indoors and outdoors. AR coating works well to enhance vision impaired by reflection from artificial lighting.
Athletes, and baseball players, for example, performing under stadium lights often find an AR coating on the back of their lenses reduces bounce-back reflection from light. Bounce-back light is also an issue in any bright sunlit conditions.
Outside of athletics, AR coatings enhance vision and reduce fatigue for anyone working on computers often and for long periods. For these individuals, an AR coating that filters out blue light is best. AR coating also works well in low-light conditions, such as those found during night driving.
A word of caution regarding eyewear with AR coating worn while driving at night. This is a somewhat controversial safety topic, and there’s no one solution perfect for every person. For this reason, read Shedding Some Light on Night Driving Challenges and Solutions before purchasing eyewear with AR coating specifically for night driving.
Photochromic Lenses
Photochromic lenses darken automatically outdoors in response to UV light from the sun. They make the light less intense and create a more comfortable vision. Keep in mind there are valid concerns many people have when considering photochromic eyewear, so consider these Helpful Tips Regarding Photochromic Eyewear before investing in them.
Photochromic lenses work well for golfers in sports because they frequently move from sunlight to shade. Many people also find them helpful in enhancing vision in everyday use.
A word of caution regarding photochromic eyewear in the workplace. Some issues, such as response time and temperature impact, reduce the effectiveness of the lens tint. Be sure to understand these thoroughly before purchasing photochromic safety eyewear.
Personalized Performing Enhancement Eyewear
Athletes already understand the importance of maximizing sports performance by focusing on obtaining the best vision possible. Just ask the athletes who wore new, high-tech sunglasses designed to enhance performance at the Olympics.
But performance-enhancing eyewear isn’t just for athletes. Anyone wanting to enhance their visual performance in any arena — work, home, or sports — can choose safety eyewear and sunglasses that have precisely what they need.
Taking time to consider the features of performance-enhancing eyewear is well worth your effort. After all, vision and performance go hand in hand for just about everyone.