Jason Ellis, CEO of Gadget Guard, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the tech behind the world's first FDA-approved screen protector to block blue light, the side effects of blue light and radiation, and how we can build a healthy relationship with the technology around us.

Cheddar Innovates

This Screen Protector Blocks Harmful Blue Light

Welcome back to cheddar innovates brought to you by curiosity stream. We all spend a lot of time in front of our phones and our screens which can lead to putting extra strain on our eyes? So our next guest is creating an all new solution, the world's first FDA approved screen protector to block blue light. And joining us now is Jason Ellis, the ceo of gadget guard. Jason As I'm speaking with you, I have a phone in front of me. I have a computer monitor. I have a ring light so I have all the screens, all the blue light. I'm sure how exactly does this technology work because clearly we need it. Yeah. Thanks asia, the technologies of filtering technology that we've used and we really partnered with an optometrist from the U. K. Who developed this technology when he was an optometrist school. So blue lights measured in nanometers. This technology will block 99% of the harmful blue light. Between three and 400 nanometers And a lot block over 30% of the blue light between 400 and 479 nm. All of that's a bunch of science and technical term. But the main point here is that we went through the process of getting this product FDA registered and really so that consumers can understand that they're safe to use them and we're really trying to build a brand here that people can trust. Yeah, Jason. I know that this was big, you know, over the past few years, the blue light glasses. Can you just kind of give us some context. What are some of the side effects of using our phones and our devices so much? Just how harmful is blue light? You know, there are several studies out there that would, you know, talk about how blue light can disrupt sleep. It can cause eyestrain. There's more serious complications like macular degeneration, headaches, blurred vision. They're seeing that in, you know, over 30% of the population, personally, for me, I, you know, I got involved in this and really passionate about The work that we're doing. I have two kids, my oldest is 13 and my little one is soon to be seven and she's had some eye issues. So as we've navigated this, we're really seeing the difference even just in those seven years between my two Children of how much the little one is using devices and um, and what researchers are finding as Children are twice as vulnerable tie damage from, from blue light as adults are. So it's it's a real problem, wow, that's really incredible. Especially given the fact that so many kids have like an ipad in front of them watching their favorite shows. And a lot of us also get our screen time reports every week. I think to a lot of our dismay, maybe we ignore them. Can you put into perspective just how much we really use our phones, especially right now, the average doesn't potentially seem that bad. So the average today is three hours a day on, on phones, however it doesn't necessarily consider all the other screens that you're looking at like your computer. Um And then if you start to segment the population, it's obviously much more Are the numbers are much higher for the younger population. So it can be up to double that amount 6/7 hours of screen time. Um Probably what's more alarmed alarming is that almost half of of the people in our in the U. S. Say they're addicted to their phones. And We're seeing really high numbers 71% of people using their phones within 10 minutes of waking up within 10 minutes of going to sleep. Um You know just something that we always have to have around us. Yes I can relate to that. I wish my screen time was three hours a week. Um And gadget guard also created technology to reduce radiation from our phones. I'm really passionate about this one and very curious what should we all know when it comes to cell phone? Radiation. Yeah. It's a sensitive topic and I don't think that it's been well um well marketed in the past. Um We're in the process of trying to build a company here that is focused on creating a healthier relationship between humans and their tech and that starts with our mission of being the world's first two way protection company where we can guard humans and their devices at the same time Radiation has been an issue for several years. In fact, the FCC has not updated the radiation standards for mobile devices since 1996. So without Spending a lot of time on that, we all understand how usage and the technology has changed since 1996. Um, and so what we're focused on now is not necessarily if radiation is itself a health concern, there's a lot of research that would indicate that it is. We've just really focused on the science, which we believe really strongly and that we can reduce the radiation on your mobile device by over half. And we're going to let consumers choose if that's something that they want to spend money on. I'm really glad that you're taking up the mantle on that. Especially because technology is moving so quickly these days. And I also want to know some other ways that we can create healthy relationships with our technology. Yeah, it's a really good question. And it's hard to do. This is back to the self discipline. Um, because myself, I'm I love tech and I'm a big user of it. So some of my own best practices. Um, and when it comes to radiation in particular space as your friend. So if you don't need to have your phone near you, you know, I'd keep a little space, even one or two ft as helpful. I wouldn't, you know, I don't sleep with my phone near near me. I try to keep it away from my body as much as possible. You can use wired headsets instead of non wired headsets and then something I often see adults do for their Children to set screen time limits, but they don't often do them for themselves. I found that to be a really powerful mechanism because it's a reminder, almost like a meeting reminder just, hey, you've been on this for too long. Um, so those are a handful of tips that that would get us moving in the right direction. Lots of really good information. That's Jason L. S. Ceo of gadget guard. So good to have you on the show.