New Research on Anti-Glare Products Studies
Studies show they work
best when applied in an area of the cheek or nose that the eye can see
 By
Mike Maloney
Glare may be caused by dazzling stadium lights or the sun,
but and it can also come from light that is reflected off from a smooth
shiny surface. The second type of glare is why athletes apply adhesive
backed patches or grease paint to their cheeks in the area directly
under their eyes.
When an athlete sees something out of the corner of their eye, they are
using peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is good when it enables the
athlete to avoid an obstacle, like an opposing player, and bad when it
causes an unnecessary distraction. The human eye is capable of seeing
more than 180o
at all times and the brain is constantly processing all of the
information that is received and determining what is important
(informational) and what is not important (non-informational).
Most people see part of their nose and their cheek in their
peripheral vision at all times and the brain has learned to ignore them
as being non-informational. When a splash of light suddenly reflects off
from the nose or cheek, however, the brain needs to process that
information and determine if it is important or not. Causing the brain
to process non-informational input is a distraction that could easily
impair an athletes ability to concentrate on tasks like catching or
hitting a ball.
Athletes have been using dull finish, dark colored materials like grease
paint and shoe polish for many years in order to prevent light from
reflecting off from their cheek and into the peripheral areas of the
eye. Nowadays, many of them use adhesive backed patches which are easier
to apply and remove and less likely to get smeared into the eye.
Our laboratory performed a series of tests to determine how
well the performance of eye patches compare to grease paint and we also
tested some new over-the-nose patches that have recently come on to the
market. Since people have a difficult time quantifying the amount of
light that is being detected in the peripheral areas of their eyes, we
performed the tests using a specially equipped mannequin. A photo diode
was attached to the mannequins right eye and positioned where the rods
and cones responsible for peripheral vision are located.
A lamp was positioned so that light reflects off from the
mannequins nose and cheek and the amount of light reaching the photo
diode in the eye was recorded. Eye black was then applied to the area of
the cheek directly under the eye and another reading was recorded.
The test was repeated 5 times and the results showed that the eye black
reduced the amount of light entering the peripheral area of the eye by
about 1.5%. That may
seem like a small change, but because there is no way to determine how
much distraction is too much distraction, the goal should be to reduce
or eliminate as much as possible.
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