SINGAPORE: Looking to move your gaze to painting? More young people in China have been opting for iris photos, a pattern that worries experts because of possible protection and privacy risks.
As the title suggests, iris photo involves high-resolution pictures being snapped of a person’s retina. The graphics are then transformed into artistic designs.  ,
While such companies are not new and are offered all around the world, more persons in the nation’s second-largest market, particularly children, have been taking a glow to them, according to local media reports.
CNA did a search for “iris photography”, or “hongmo sheying” in Mandarin, on the common Taiwanese social media platform Xiaohongshu. Users from all over China shared their experiences in various posts, along with photos of iris photography studios advertising their services.
Iris photography services were provided by one studio in Changchun city in northeastern Jilin province for a promotional price of 98 yuan ( US$ 13.45 ) per person. The entire process takes about 30 hours to 40 minutes, the workshop added.
Also, one Xiaohongshu person, Matiani, said her retina photography expertise at a workshop in Chengdu took 30 minutes.
” The last item is beyond your mind, each picture is full of creative expression”, Matiani wrote. ” It’s almost as if there are universes in your eyes” . ,
EYE SAFETY AND PRIVACY Problems
Concerns over safety as well as dangers to individual private have also come into sharp focus as more people look at iris photography services.
According to Yu Pingping of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, as reported by regional news website ECNS in a Dec 12 content, exposure to severe light while taking photos could possibly hurt the eye. You advised users to limit their exposure to bright light and cut back on their photography sessions.
Patients with conditions such as keratitis, retinal diseases, or recent eye surgeries should refrain from trying out iris photography, said another doctor, Han Wei, from Zhejiang University School of Medicine who was quoted in the same report.