Yuga Labs ApeFest Attendees Complain of Severe Eye Issues

• ApeFest 2023 was held in Hong Kong from November 3 to November 5.
• At the least 15 allegations of impairment of imaginative and prescient have surfaced on-line.

The mother or father enterprise of Bored Ape Yacht Membership (BAYC), Yuga Labs, hosted the a lot awaited return of its massive in-person occasion, ApeFest 2023, which was held in Hong Kong from November 3 to November 5.

This yr’s Hong Kong occasion didn’t concentrate on music in the identical manner that final yr’s New York Metropolis occasions did throughout NFT.NYC. As an alternative, the pageant was targeted on a “new journey” that encourages attendees to find the town’s hidden gems and make the pageant accessible to those that can’t bodily attend.

Excessive Discomfort

Nonetheless, burns, impaired eyesight, and “excessive ache” within the eyes had been reported by a number of attendees of the Yuga Labs ApeFest in Hong Kong, who blamed the occasion’s lights. On November 5, one attendee named CryptoJune tweeted that he needed to go to the hospital after waking up in the midst of the evening submit ApeFest with excessive eye discomfort.

Various individuals with eye complaints had been stated to be “up shut” to the lighting present on the primary stage, in response to one observer. One other ApeFest attendee, identified solely as Feld on Twitter, reported experiencing the identical issues.

At the least 15 allegations of impairment of imaginative and prescient have surfaced on-line, nevertheless this will solely apply to these among the many a whole bunch of ApeFest members who had been sitting or standing very near the stage. Occasion Goers in Hong Kong have had well being issues prior to now due to dangerous UV illumination.

The allegations of visible impairment in each cases tie up with a dysfunction referred to as photokeratitis, popularly often called “Welder’s eye.”