This headset eases eye strain after you’ve been staring at screens all day

It’s tough these days to spend even a few minutes away from a screen. If you’re not typing away furiously at your laptop, then you’re definitely responding to a WhatsApp on your phone. What do you do during a break from mindless number crunching at work? Browse YouTube for some comic relief, obviously.

And when it’s finally time to retire for the day, the temptation to switch on your television before plonking into bed is too hard to resist.

Absorbing all that takes a pretty significant toll on our eyes. Almost 70 percent of millennials report symptoms of eye strain, and 30 percent of adults admit to using a digital device for a staggering 9 hours or more each day, says a report by the Vision Council (PDF).

If that’s not alarming, I don’t know what is.

A startup from Taiwan is taking on this problem. Aurai, named after the mythological winged nymphs that control the wind, manufactures massaging goggles that users can strap around their eyes, VR style.

The goggles contain a flexible, hypoallergenic silicone eye mask that use water flow to provide a massage-like sensation at preset temperatures.

Aurai’s Kickstarter goes live today with an early bird price of US$119. The product is slated to be shipped in September and will come with a handheld control unit that people can use to adjust things like vibration levels and temperature.

Eric Chu, co-founder of Aurai, tells Tech in Asia that they’ve used a thermoelectric cooler along with two water circulation plates to enable the temperature change in the gizmo.

“The temperature will rise/drop to preset temperature within two minutes,” he adds.

The startup claims the device is capable of alternating between both warm and cool sensations. Warm compress, which is designed to alleviate dry and tired eyes, will range at a temperature between 38°C-40°C. Its cool compress, which helps reduce swelling and dark circles, will operate a temperature between 18°C-20°C.

A rechargeable battery will run it for approximately six sessions on a full charge.

There are already plenty of warm eye massagers out there (like one from Panasonic that costs US$125), so the whole concept is far from new. Aurai is mixing things up by adding cold as well as warm sensations.