Eyewear luminotherapy to fight the winter blues – EYESEEMAG

A Dutch company based in Tilburg, since its creation Propeaq has specialized in using light therapy in glasses. Unlike traditional luminotherapy lamps, their glasses have several advantages. They are lightweight (41 grams), and so are easy to carry about wherever you go. They also come with a charger, travel adaptors and a handy travel case, allowing you to carry on with business-as-usual, but all the while being able to slot in a spot of light therapy, without having to carry around a large lamp with you! As the founder of Propeaq, Toine Schoutens also points out: “sitting in front of a lamp is not an efficient use of our precious time!”

From a technical point of view, at the front of their frame the glasses are equipped with two electroluminescent diodes (commonly referred to as LEDs). They block out blue ultraviolet light and only process light with wavelengths strictly defined between 460 to 480 nanometres, so as not to damage the cornea or the skin. On the left hand side of the glasses there is a battery which can be recharged via a USB socket, and which lasts for up to 2 hours (which equates to 4 days of use, since the daily recommended use of the glasses is half an hour). They come with three different coloured frames (light blue, dark blue and red), and by connecting them to Bluetooth, can be used through  an Android or iOS-specific application which allows the user to personalise their specific needs and explore and adjust the glasses various settings and functions. 

Whatever colour the lenses used, the principal is the same: by decreasing or increasing the rate of melatonin, the glasses enable us to reprogram our biological clock and can improve our lifestyle and solve many different light-caused problems or conditions we may face, whether it’s winter blues or jet lag, to counteract the stimulating blue light from our computer and phone screens that we look at before bed, insomnia, to improve concentration or even to make getting up in the morning easier. Propeaq have even collaborated with several athletes to help them improve their performance and specific problems through light therapy. The company also works with several establishments, particularly hospitals: places constantly disturbed by nocturnal activity and light, and where the body clock of patients is easily put off kilter. Available on Amazon and Propeaq’s website, these glasses are now available from €175.