Mitigate
Reduce avoidable visual load.
Review prolonged, uninterrupted near work alongside lighting, glare, task demands and workstation conditions. Build in opportunities to vary visual activity and take recovery breaks.
Visual Behaviour Integrity Protocol
Healthier visual habits.
Built into everyday life.
From school to work and throughout life.
Make visual comfort a shared responsibility.
Mitigate, Mobilise, MaintainWorkplace wellbeing, education and visual comfort
The purpose: what is VBIP?
Move from knowing what helps
to making it part of the day.
The Visual Behaviour Integrity Protocol connects individual habits with the environments, schedules and leadership that make those habits possible.
A preventive purpose.
Reduce the risk of screen-related visual fatigue and headaches through better-designed environments and practical recovery routines.
A shared responsibility.
Schools, families, employees and employers each have a role in making healthier visual behaviour easier to adopt and maintain.
The framework: three connected responsibilities
Mitigate. Mobilise. Maintain.
A proposed approach to visual comfort, supported by everyday routines and visible leadership.
The IMMMPACT framework. VBIP applies Mitigate, Mobilise and Maintain to help organisations translate visual-health guidance into supported everyday habits.
Mobilise
Make participation possible.
Engage people and organisations in adopting regular visual breaks. Managers and teachers model the behaviour, make time and create the conditions for others to follow.
Maintain
Make the routines last.
Include practical guidance in onboarding and everyday practice. Use feedback to identify barriers, adapt working conditions and support habits over time.
Lead by example. Make time. Make it routine.
Continuity of adoption: 20-20-2 across life stages
Shared habits.
Adapted to school and work.
The regular distance-viewing habit can continue as people move from school into working life. The outdoor message adapts to age and setting.
Two hours outdoors each day.
The outdoor component of 20-20-2 is a message for children, supporting healthy eye development and helping prevent or delay myopia onset. Schools and families can help make outdoor time part of the day. [1]
Outdoor settings offer opportunities to shift focus between distances and attend to wider surroundings.
Two outdoor breaks, where feasible.
VBIP proposes two outdoor opportunities during the workday for daylight exposure, movement and a change of visual activity. Managers help make these opportunities practical and acceptable.
Daylight may support wellbeing and sleep. [2] Outdoor breaks complement regular visual breaks throughout the day. [3]
The two-hour message for children and the proposed two-break routine for adults have different evidence bases. The adult frequency is a practical VBIP adoption target to evaluate. Adapt routines to accessibility, weather, tasks and safety; outdoor breaks should offer a change from screen use.
Evidence and review: clear about what is known
Ground the guidance.
Evaluate the framework.
Published evidence informs individual recommendations. Independent review and pilot evaluation are the next steps for VBIP as a complete framework.
What informs the proposal?
Evidence supports encouraging children to spend time outdoors to help delay myopia onset. Evidence is stronger for onset than for slowing established myopia. Workplace guidance supports frequent breaks and changes of visual activity.
Research also links daylight exposure with aspects of adult wellbeing and sleep. It does not establish two outdoor breaks as a clinical dose or prove that VBIP improves performance.
What needs to be tested?
Pilots should evaluate feasibility, participation, acceptability and visual comfort. Attention, performance and presenteeism should be defined and measured separately.
VBIP is an author-led proposal in pre-validation. It is not yet a validated protocol or formally recognised standard. Expert involvement does not imply institutional endorsement.
About VBIP: origin and future stewardship
Initiated by IMMMPACT.
Designed for independent governance.
VBIP is being developed as an open framework for visual behaviour by design. Its proposed governance will bring together independent expertise to review the evidence, guide revisions and oversee its development.
IMMMPACT is the initiating company and provides the Mitigate – Mobilise – Maintain adoption framework. VBIP’s independent governance structure is being developed; it is not yet established.
Independent expertise.The intended structure will draw on eye health, behavioural science, occupational health and governance expertise to scrutinise recommendations and inform development.
Open development.Governance arrangements, decision-making authority, reuse permissions and the relationship with IMMMPACT remain to be defined and published.
Policy and implementation: support existing prevention duties
A practical proposal.
An invitation to evaluate.
EU Directive 90/270/EEC requires periodic interruption of display-screen work by breaks or changes of activity. It does not prescribe VBIP or a specific 20-20-2 rhythm. Applicability depends on local rules and the setting.
01
Recognise visual load
Consider prolonged near work and multi-device use in practical assessment of work and learning environments.
02
Review operational guidance
Assess VBIP’s proposed routines as potential support for existing prevention obligations, subject to evidence review.
03
Coordinate pilot evaluation
Invite employers, education providers and institutional partners to test feasibility and share findings.
Institutional dialogue. The discussion paper includes the author’s account of a contribution to the IOE Global Occupational Safety and Health Network Meeting in Vevey in May 2026. This is part of VBIP’s development history and does not constitute institutional endorsement.
Common questions
A few clear answers.
What is VBIP?
VBIP stands for Visual Behaviour Integrity Protocol. It is a proposed framework for building visual breaks and supportive routines into work and education through Mitigate, Mobilise and Maintain.
Do two outdoor breaks replace other screen breaks?
No. The proposed two outdoor breaks complement regular visual breaks and changes of activity throughout the day.
Is VBIP a validated or legally recognised standard?
No. VBIP is an author-led proposal open for independent review and pilot evaluation. Existing display-screen rules do not prescribe VBIP or its specific break rhythm.
What is the relationship between VBIP and IMMMPACT?
IMMMPACT is the company initiating VBIP and provides the Mitigate – Mobilise – Maintain adoption framework. VBIP is designed for open, independent governance. That governance structure is being developed and is not yet established.
Who can contribute to VBIP?
Eye-care and occupational-health professionals, behavioural researchers, ergonomists, educators, employee representatives and organisations can contribute through expert review, advisory discussions or pilot collaboration. Roles and involvement are confirmed individually.
Contribute: help shape the next step
From evidence to everyday practice.
We welcome thoughtful scrutiny, practical perspectives and organisations willing to explore a well-defined pilot.
Contact
For general and institutional enquiries about VBIP.
Explore the framework, its purpose and its development.
Partnership
For organisations interested in pilots and collaboration.
Explore evaluation in workplaces and education.
Advisory
For experts interested in the proposed Advisory Board.
Contribute to review, governance and implementation.
Kanunnik de Deckerstraat 20a
2800 Mechelen, Belgium
Jean-Michel Viaene, founder and author of VBIPMicro Habits. Macro Impact.