A tablet you can read outside...coming soon

[L.J. Sellers]

From Shelf Awareness today:

It's summer. Go outside and read an e-book. Noting that two neuroscientists recently advised books should be read outdoors in order to protect against nearsightedness, the New Yorker's Book Bench blog reported that the "need for tablets that can be read in direct sunlight becomes more pressing. If you are an iPad devotee, a solution might be near: last month, Apple applied for a patent on a 'Display that Emits Circularly-Polarized Light,' which would make the iPad more viewable in direct sunlight to viewers wearing polarized sunglasses."

[djulian]

Ha! That's hilarious.

[Nexutix]

WooHoo! I am future owner of iPad 3 for sure.

Honeycomb tablets haven't beaten up sufficiently yet. And me and many of my friends had "dissatisfaction" due to low user experience and crappy batteries.

[DiapDealer]

In other words... you'd HAVE to read the device while wearing polarized sunglasses when outdoors?

Sounds like someone wants to sell iShades to me.

[newlaza]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

In other words... you'd HAVE to read the device while wearing polarized sunglasses when outdoors?

Sounds like someone wants to sell iShades to me.

Think big. iEyeballs.

... iEyes?

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by newlaza

Think big. iEyeballs.

... iEyes?

iBalls? Wait, forget I went there.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

Apple applied for a patent [/URL]on a 'Display that Emits Circularly-Polarized Light,' which would make the iPad more viewable in direct sunlight to viewers wearing polarized sunglasses."

LG and Vizio already have televisions with displays that emit both left and right circularly polarized light to display 3D programs.

[RainingLemur]

So... I'd have to wear iGoggles to read outside? I think there's a Rainier Wolfcastle joke here, somewhere.

[newlaza]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

So... I'd have to wear iGoggles to read outside? I think there's a Rainier Wolfcastle joke here, somewhere.

[khalleron]

Note that ordinary polarized sunglasses will not work, as ordinary sunglasses are linearly polarized. You'd have to use special circularly polarized glasses, like the ones used in most 3d theaters or passive 3d displays.

I already have some, because I have a 3d laptop, but if you lose your glasses, they cost $8-10 to replace (or swipe from the 3d theater).

I would also like to note that I spent most of my childhood reading outside (my mother wouldn't let us in the house except for meals during the summer), and I'm still quite nearsighted.

[DiapDealer]

Note that ordinary polarized sunglasses will not work, as ordinary sunglasses are linearly polarized. You'd have to use special circularly polarized glasses, like the ones used in most 3d theaters or passive 3d displays.

Actually the article states:

"By emitting circularly-polarized light, the display reduces the perceived distortion found at some angles when the display is viewed through a linearly-polarizing filter."

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Actually the article states:

"By emitting circularly-polarized light, the display reduces the perceived distortion found at some angles when the display is viewed through a linearly-polarizing filter."

Hm. I don't see how that would work from a physics standpoint.

Even if it did, you'd probably still need glasses polarized at a particular angle.

[charleski]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

two neuroscientists recently advised books should be read outdoors in order to protect against nearsightedness

Short-sightedness is caused by having corneas with a focal length too short for your eyeballs (or, alternatively, having eyes which are too big for your corneas). The article references two studies which examined an extremely limited number of factors and happened to find a correlation with outdoor activity. The Sydney-Singapore study did at least admit that there was a notable imbalance between the groups: Singapore children receive three years of structured pre-school training in reading that those in Sydney don't (the children in the study were around 7). As confounding factors go, that's a pretty big one.

Getting your kids to engage in more outdoor activities (including reading outside) is a good idea for many reasons. But I'm going to stay sceptical of the idea that it prevents short-sightedness without a lot more evidence.

I spent a lot of time outdoors as a young kid, and I'm blind without my glasses

[Namekuseijin]

It's so reassuring to know that if I ever get an iPad and find myself in the middle of Gobi desert at 12:00 o'clock I can sit down and read comfortably with my iGoggles...

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

A tablet you can read outside...coming soon