Samsung's new app could protect your kid's eye

Safety first: The app is designed to keep kids within the ideal distance from the screen to avoid vision problems.

Parents these days give kids their smartphones and tablets to keep them occupied.

Popular smartphone maker Samsung says prolonged usage without proper guidance and monitoring could effect the eyesight of children in the long term.

With this in mind, the electronics giant has developed an app called Samsung Safety Screen.

The app uses the front camera and facial recognition technology to calculate the optimal distance between the screen and the user’s face.

When the child is too close to the screen, the app will block a large part of the display and advise him or her to move back with a friendly animation.

This will prevent kids from sitting too close to their devices which could cause eye strain, computer vision syndrome and strain to the brain, Samsung claims.

The app can be password protected by parents to ensure that it will not be turned off accidentally or intentionally by kids when they are playing games or reading e-books.

The app is compatible with most Android devices and can be downloaded from the Google Play store.