Eye Strain Relief via Movable Monitor

In May 2000, right after graduating, I started working for a big telecom which involved working at a computer workstation all day long. Quickly that became very tiring, especially for my eyes. Everyday I'd come home with red and tired eyes, so much so I didn't want to come near a computer for the rest of the evening. So that got me thinking. I came up with an idea of a movable platform for the computer monitor.

The idea was to have the video monitor (flat screens were not wide spread at that time) on a movable support, a tray of some sort that would mechanically move back and forth. But in such small motion that it would be undetectable. So imagine the screen just moving in and out in front of you, over a small distance, maybe a foot or two. I'm not a scientist but common sense tells me that the extra eye workout (constant focus change) would be beneficial. The constant movement of the muscles inside the eyes would most likely make them stronger, relieve eye strain and who knows, maybe improve vision. It would definitely reduce the discomfort associated with sustained close range viewing of the computer screen.

Back in 2004 I was so excited about my idea that I decided to make a prototype. So I started building the platform (see picture)...



... but at the same time I decided to search the patent databases. Guess what, I was so discouraged when I found that someone had already patented my idea, back in the late 90's. Someone in Australia had come up with a similar invention and the patent was just sitting there. I was unable to find it again but found something similar which proves that other people believe in the benefits of frequent adjustments to the monitor distance from the eyes. Here is a link to that patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=TFYhAAAAEBAJ

And as I'm writing this I found another one which is very similar to my idea. This isn't the one I was describing above. It just amazes me how we humans have similar thoughts. I bet hundreds of others thought about this in some way or another. Here the monitor moves sideways:

"A novel concept of ergodynamic desktops with slowly varying configurations for ergonomic purposes"

http://www.google.com/patents?id=mzGcAAAAEBAJ

My idea was to have the platform powered and controlled by the same computer that it is used for. So the user would be able to set the rate, distance of travel and turn it on and off using a small application that would come with this product.

So I thought about completing the prototype for my own use but then I got a laptop ;) If you have any comments feel free to post them here. Cheers!