iPads, TVs, and Light!

Today we looked the light level results of iPads with special light goggles, goggles that shine different wavelengths/colors of light at your eye. There were three variables: blue light goggles and iPad, orange light goggles and iPad, and just the iPad. Eyes looking through blue light goggles and focusing on the iPad will be taking in the highest levels of light while ones looking through orange light goggles at the iPad will get the lowest. Looking at just the iPad was higher than the orange light goggle variable but not by a lot. The predicted result would be that one's melatonin levels would be suppressed the most by blue light goggles and the least by orange light goggles. So people who look through blue light goggles at the iPad just before bed will have a harder time sleeping. The melatonin level results are still being measured so we'll see if the prediction is correct later!
After looking at the light level results, I helped set up seats in front of a humungous television! Then we measured the illuminance (light level) next to my eye of the TV screen's light at different seats in the room. The closest I sat was 6 feet away from the TV and that was by far the greatest illuminance. I learned that one can set the screen's light to different colors and levels, which can help if you're about to go to bed right after watching a movie. It is predicted that making the light level low or changing the temperature to orange colors has less impact on your melatonin levels!

Looking at Experimental Data!

Today we looked at the circadian light level results of my white iPhone. I assumed my phone would have a greater impact on the brain's melatonin levels at different brightness levels which could suppress sleep. Today, I learned the circadian light levels were so low for even when my phone was at its brightest that they would hardly impact the melatonin levels at all! At its brightest level, my phone would effect those levels by only 3%. This was a very small amount and we were measuring these levels on an eye that was 6 inches away from the phone, which is a closer distance than people usually hold their phone at. Brittany also showed me the effect on TVs, computers, and tablets. For TVs, the usual distance of the viewer from the screen makes it so that their melatonin levels are hardly effected at all. For computers, the highest affect on melatonin levels was the Mac's screen, which effects the levels by 34%. Tablets were a lot like phones, in that their normal brightness, does not effect melatonin levels very much. Overall, it was the brightness of the screen that changed the affect of each item on melatonin levels. So the color of the screens, like blues and reds, did not change the melatonin levels at all. At highest brightness levels, screens affect the viewer more than at regular levels but they still did not change the viewer's melatonin levels by too much. Out of all the items used, Apple products changed melatonin levels by the highest percentage!