FPS gaming improves vision

[Denithor]

bit-tech.net

A study has found that gamers' contrast sensitivity vision improves when playing FPS games. Contrast sensitivity is the body's response to a change in visionary situations, enabling you for example, to see in the dark or read. Like everything else it degrades in old age, but a new neuroscience study has shown that this may not be the case for avid gamers who enjoy a good gunfight.

According to leading researcher, Professor Daphne Bavelier of Rochester University "This is not a skill that people were supposed to get better at by training. It was something that we corrected for at the level of the optics of the eye ? to get better contrast detection you get glasses or laser surgery."

So, after hooking a group of gamers for more than 50 hours on Call of Duty, and another group on an non-violent game, results showed that the vision of those who played Call of Duty had improved by 43 percent. When set against the results of the other group, whose vision failed to improve at all, such a result can no doubt be deemed as statistically significant.

Additionally, Bavelier found that rather than simply being a temporary boost in vision, "the positive effect remained months, even years after training, indicating long-lasting gains."

Finally then, a study that can devalues the age old argument that video games damage the eyesight, gamers can confidently shoot there way to healthier, long lasting vision.

 

[exar333]

I guess this explains my recent nightvision abilities. We are creating an army of superheroes...

All kidding aside, this was a very interesting article. The long-lasting gains were the most important to me, it's great that these effects can last years after the actual gaming takes place.

 

[WraithETC]

Also sitting close to the TV does not harm your eye sight.

Going outside on a coldish day without a jacket does not give you the cold.

etc.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: WraithETC
Also sitting close to the TV does not harm your eye sight.

Going outside on a coldish day without a jacket does not give you the cold.

etc.

Try it sometime.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: WraithETC
Also sitting close to the TV does not harm your eye sight.

Going outside on a coldish day without a jacket does not give you the cold.

etc.

One of my friends was trying to tell this to me the other day after I rearranged my room to place my couch closer to my TV. I told him it's probably way better to sit closer since you don't have to strain your eyes. Especially for splitscreen games where you're only able to use 1/2 or 1/4 of the screen. As he was leaving I asked how he liked the new setup and he said his eyes felt better because he wasn't straining so hard to see.

FYI I have a 32" TV and I changed the viewing distance from about 6 feet to about 4 feet.

 

[Sam25]

Interesting, I think I read this also in today's newspaper in the morning. Good to know playing FPS games in turn makes vision better!

 

[RallyMaster]

I'm surprised at this. Now it gives me more of a reason to frag folks in Battlefield 2.

 

[Sam25]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
I'm surprised at this. Now it gives me more of a reason to frag folks in Battlefield 2.

Yeah, I'm thinking of re-playing the original CoD again!

 

[Zenoth]

I wouldn't believe that it's a universal consequence, it has to be true but only for individuals and at differing degrees. In my case playing video games ever since 1988 gave me myopia, the main reason probably not being video games themselves however, but probably because I played too close to the television screen during all of my 8-Bit, 16-Bit, 32-Bit, 64-Bit and 128-Bit gaming years. So in the end I guess that it may well depend on how you play games that determines how much one's vision is affected over time.

But I wouldn't say that even if I would have stayed farther away from the T.V playing my games that all of a sudden I would have developed any better vision acuity/quality or anything superior to how it was naturally without video games thrown it at any time in my life. In other words I am very skeptical about that study, but I guess it could be possible for certain persons, since I wouldn't understand why they'd be lying about that either. I just think that the results should be taken individually, even though that article presents it as if it would affect every single gamer who happens to play first-person-shooters.

 

[nestlewater]

Hmm.. IDK, this doesn't seem conclusive in any way. The way the brain works, it's a really good complicated differential calculator. It seems more that you're honing your "senses"/response. This has nothing to do with improved EYE vision. Using your eyes for gaming puts MORE wear on it than if you slept, thats just simple fact. You can't undo usage, mileage is set at birth.

 

[TidusZ]

I have better than 20/20 vision, I've likely played more games than most of the people here, but I hardly play fps at all (2 years of counterstrike, thats it). I argue that playing rpgs and rts improve eyesight! Btw most of that gaming is on a pc, nice close distance.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
I have better than 20/20 vision, I've likely played more games than most of the people here, but I hardly play fps at all (2 years of counterstrike, thats it). I argue that playing rpgs and rts improve eyesight! Btw most of that gaming is on a pc, nice close distance.

I think visual acuity is a different measure than contrast sensitivity. I know people who spent most of their childhoods reading or gaming (activities which demand good acuity at close distances), and still have 20/20 vision, and I also know people who spent much time outside playing sports (and not much reading or gaming), who still developed myopia. There is a large genetic component to acuity.

As to contrast, I can understand how sensitivity could improve from playing FPS - you need to be able to quickly spot camouflaged opponents, often from far away.

The article didn't name the control game, but it would be interesting to compare typical genres. RTS probably also improves contrast, as you have to keep track of numerous units on the screen. What about adventure/puzzle games, where items and clues can be hidden in rooms, or you need good colour contrast to solve certain puzzles?

Also, I'm not sure if driving or sports games would improve contrast sensitivity.

 

[aka1nas]

Must have been all those guys growing up on Quake games an learning to distinguish between 16 million shades of brown.

 

[BassBomb]

Why is mine -10 -8 then

 

[fffblackmage]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
I wouldn't believe that it's a universal consequence, it has to be true but only for individuals and at differing degrees.

But I wouldn't say that even if I would have stayed farther away from the T.V playing my games that all of a sudden I would have developed any better vision acuity/quality or anything superior to how it was naturally without video games thrown it at any time in my life. In other words I am very skeptical about that study, but I guess it could be possible for certain persons, since I wouldn't understand why they'd be lying about that either. I just think that the results should be taken individually, even though that article presents it as if it would affect every single gamer who happens to play first-person-shooters.

It's certainly not a "universal consequence." Not everyone's the same after all. But assuming the study involves a decently large number of people studied, then a 43% improvement over those who didn't play CoD would indicate more people gained some improvement from playing CoD than those who did worse after playing CoD. So maybe not everyone ended up with better eyesight, but more did than those who did not.

 

[SunnyD]

Excessive fapping due to having no social life in turn cancels out any benefit. Oh well.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Why is mine -10 -8 then

Chronic masturbation

 

[Piuc2020]

Similar tests were done quite some time ago and subjects who played a lot of Unreal Tournament showed significant perception improvement, which makes sense, games train the eye to react to stimuli that only vary by the colors of pixels in a computer screen, therefore, slight changes in contrast in real life will also be perceived much more acutely by the brain.

Maybe the article should specify how are they measuring eyesight improvement.

 

[mindcycle]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Why is mine -10 -8 then

Chronic masturbation

lol

 

[Udgnim]

heh I think FPS gaming decreases my vision

might just be that I strain my eyes too much, but that's how I play when trying to hitscan

 

[Sam25]

Originally posted by: angry hampster

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Why is mine -10 -8 then

Chronic masturbation

:laugh:

 

[TBSN]

Just want to add, this may be true, but it doesn't mean that you can't damage your vision by staring at a screen for hours. You should take breaks, just for your eyes, and focus on objects at different distances. Even little breaks every once in a while during a long gaming session can help a lot.

Oh, by the way, I DOUBT this applies to Standard Definition CRT TV's. I played one of the Metal Gear solid games on PS2 and I was so hooked that by the time I finished for the day my eyes looked like I had been hitting a bong for four hours straight, hah.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
Must have been all those guys growing up on Quake games an learning to distinguish between 16 million shades of brown.

Love that color palette.