Can video games improve vision?
New research suggests that playing first-person shooter vidgames can improve your vision. According to University of Rochester cognitive scientist Daphne Bavelier, the games exercise the "contrast sensitivity function," crucial for reading and nightvision. In the study, some gamers played Unreal Tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2. Others played The Sims 2, but didn't experience the vision benefits. From National Geographic:
It may be that locating enemies and aiming accurately is a strenuous, strength-building workout for the eyes, (Bavelier) said."Video Games Improve Vision, Study Says"
Another possible reason is that the unpredictable, fast-changing environment of the typical action game requires players to constantly monitor entire landscapes and analyze optical data quickly.
Finally, Bavelier said, the games' rich payoff may also play a role.
"It's pleasing to be successful in your mission," she said. "When you combine rewards with these other [factors], then you get much more learning."
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It would be a better workout if it wasn't a flat pane. Stereoscopic displays are helpful for this, but your lenses are still focused on a fixed distance.
Bring on the hologram!
vision != signal processing
I can definitely attest to this.
I'm a pilot and I've noticed that my ability to spot distant aircraft has improved since I started playing high-def shooters. Those games are all about identifying tiny movements against a background, much like spotting air traffic.
I should have seen this coming.
Wouldn't third-person shooters work too? Would there be a difference?
Does it actually improve VISION, or is it that you're practicing spotting things, and therefore get better at it?
can someone fix this story? It's all blurry.
Scuse me, I gotta go play some more Portal.
@Mellowknees: it improves the brain's ability to process finer details, directly related to slight contrast variations (I blogged about this a few days ago and spent some time reading up on the details: its really quite interesting the specific "criteria", if you will, describing which games will improve your eyesight, and which won't make a difference :)
well i wonder if interactive porn improves ur vision too ---- who is gonna fund THIS study... hmmm hmm hmmm???
Dedalus - actually, you do have a point. in the olden dial-up days, most sites used tiny thumbnails for pr0n photoshoots. in order to save huge amounts of time it became a game of "spot the nipple"...
i'm still usually the first one to spot litlle details on large displays - whenever a professor tries to find a specific icon on a messy desktop :-)