At least 15 visitors to Yuga Labs’ Apefest, a celebration of the wonders of NFTs by Bored Ape Yacht Club, may have suffered serious eye injuries. Bloomberg nft-event-visitors-in-hong-kong-report-eye-problems”>reports that several people who attended the nft event in Hong Kong last weekend said they experienced vision problems, which they suspect were due to the event’s stage lighting. Some attendees say doctors later diagnosed them with photokeratitis (also known as “welder’s eye”), caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.
“I woke up in the middle of the night after Apefest with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital,” user crypto June aware in X (through coin telegraph). “The doctor told me it was due to the ultraviolet rays from the stage lights.” User @docwagmi suspicious that the reporting problems of “ape friends” seemed to have been “closely with us on stage.”
Meanwhile, Adrian Zduńczyk wrote at X, “To all my friends who are suffering now: go get your eyes checked. Chances are, you’ve literally burned your eyes with UV rays, like me, requiring medications, eye drops, eye protection, antibiotics, and specialized care. Do not ignore this health hazard. Without proper treatment, it can cause long-lasting vision problems and other serious damage.” Zduńczyk wrote that seeking medical attention quickly appears to have spared him long-term damage. “My vision was tested as almost perfect and, fortunately, there was no serious damage to the cornea.”
Yuga Labs briefly managed the problem at “. The company downplayed the number of people who reported problems, adding: “Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those who attended and worked at the event had these symptoms.” The nft company advised attendees experiencing symptoms to “seek medical attention just in case.”
X users didn’t seem too pleased with Yuga Labs’ PR response:
From the public relations team:
– The kids completely downplay it, they make it seem like a small number, for example… less than 1%.
– Make it look like you are actively helping and solving
– Trying to ‘find’ ‘potential’ root causes, even if we know exactly what it wasbruh
– Tarpon (@madladshad) November 6, 2023
I fixed your post pic.twitter.com/KcFSQzXU1S
– ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 6, 2023
Potentially dangerous incident resonates one in 2017 when attendees at a HypeBeast party reported eye damage. The event’s DJ later reported that the lighting contractor used Philips bulbs that emit UV-C, often used as a disinfectant.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blind-apes-nft-party-leads-to-reports-of-welders-eye-from-stage-lighting-173746164.html?src=rss
