(PRESS RELEASE) SHANGHAI, CHINA, BERLIN, GERMANY and MINNEAPOLIS, USA – Eyesafe, UnitedHealthcare Vision and TÜV Rheinland Group announced the Blue Light Summit 2020, which will be held on Oct. 15, 2020.
The Blue Light Summit 2020 brings together world leaders from consumer electronics and health care, and is open for registrants including employers, health care providers, media and the public. Featuring Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer and ZAGG (among other global technology leaders), the virtual event will include new product and solution introductions and discussions by health care professionals about the connection between screen time, blue light exposure and overall health.
Due to global travel restrictions and safety considerations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s summit will be conducted virtually. People interested in attending can register here.
Blue Light Summit 2020 will bring together world leaders in consumer electronics, eye care and vision insurance to discuss screen time and exposure to high-energy blue light from digital devices — an issue of growing importance with the widespread shift to remote learning and working amid COVID-19.
Presented by UnitedHealthcare Vision, TÜV Rheinland Group and Eyesafe, the Blue Light Summit 2020 will include an eye doctor roundtable discussion on the health impacts of blue light exposure and multiple announcements relating to electronics, health care and vision insurance. In addition to leading device manufacturers and health care experts, the event will include a presentation by Gene Munster from Loup Ventures and Frank Azor from AMD.
Joining this year’s summit will be UnitedHealthcare, a leading health and well-being company serving more than 20 million people enrolled in vision plans.
“UnitedHealthcare Vision is focused on supporting whole-person health by helping encourage eye health for the millions of members we are privileged to serve through employer-sponsored, individual and government plans,” said John Ryan, general manager, UnitedHealthcare Vision. “With people of all ages spending more time using digital devices, this year’s summit and recent innovations related to blue-light blocking technology take on added importance for employers, eye care professionals, educators and consumers.”
The announcement of the Blue Light Summit follows release of the Screen Time 2020 Report, which includes survey results from employers and vision care providers related to screen time and blue light exposure. The Screen Time 2020 Report revealed that 94% of eye care providers surveyed are “very concerned” to “somewhat concerned” about the impact of digital device screen time on their patients’ eyes; and over 77% of employers are “somewhat” to “very concerned” about the impact of digital device screen time on their employees’ eyes and health.
Importantly, the average number of hours people use digital devices has grown significantly, especially as more employees work remotely and distance learning becomes more common for students. In the United States, a recent Nielsen study found that people spend an average of more than 13 hours per day on digital devices.
“This year we are pleased to see that many major players on the global landscape are coming together to discuss important issues related to blue light and taking action. We believe we are on the verge of major change across the entire electronics industry and TÜV Rheinland is pleased to be playing such a pivotal role at the intersection of technology and health.” said Kalyan Varma, Vice President of TÜV Rheinland, Business Field Electrical.
The Eyesafe Standard is an industry-leading set of requirements available for manufacturers across the digital display industry. The panel makers that have certified their products by TÜV Rheinland to meet the Eyesafe Display requirements include BOE, AUO, Innolux, TCL CSOT, Wistron, and IVO. They collectively account for the majority of the world’s display manufacturing for desktop monitors, all-in-one personal computers and laptops.
“The Blue Light Summit 2020 fosters cross-industry dialogue where leaders from health care and technology come to discuss the issue and learn about the new products, programs and solutions that address one of the most pervasive issues of modern times: blue light,” said Justin Barrett, founder and CEO of Eyesafe, a global leader in advocacy, standards and technology solutions for blue light management and color performance.
The Blue Light Summit will address the issue and global challenge for the technology industry related to growing prevalence of screen time, high-energy blue light exposure and industry solutions to encourage safety. If you are interested in attending the Blue Light Summit 2020, please register at BlueLightSummit.com.