Play games, improve your eyes
(Visited 6496 times) Game talk
Mar 302009
Latest from the games-are-good-for-you department:
The findings, reported in the March 29 issue of Nature, indicate that action games offer players the chance to improve their contrast perception by as much as 58%.
via Video Game Play Improves Eyesight — Video Games — InformationWeek.
The findings show that you have to play FPSes like UT2k4 and CoD2, and not games like The Sims 2. So you may improve your “contrast perception” but presumably the industry’s critics will then assert that you traded your eyesight for temporary boosts in aggressivity. 🙂
10 Responses to “Play games, improve your eyes”
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This just in: good contrast perception linked to violence and murder! Film at 11!
I am almost certain that my extended use of computers, with not enough breaks, is the cause for my failing eyesight.
But then, every time I go to the optician, I’m told that no matter what I do my eyes will fail, or improve, of their own accord. I have two parents with short sight, so it’s just my genetic fate.
Damn spectacles, defeating natural selection! Soon we’ll ALL be short-sighted… but at least we’ll have good contrast perception…
The reason why gunslingers squinted was because their sight was horrible.
In the days of knights, those with great sight tended to become archers, and even then, there were a lot of archers to cover for those who couldn’t shoot straight.
Humans are cavedwellers. Aside from a lucky few, we lose our sight just because.
You don’t think they squinted because of the glare of the midday sun beating down on the hot, white sand? 🙂
Interesting, I wonder what other effects exercising your mind can have! Could people read faster, have better recall, and wider vocabulary if they read more and more frequently? Are people that use and practice mathematics frequently going to typically be better at spotting bugs in code?
All smugness aside, this is interesting, seeing an actual number attached (and a significant one, at that). It’s fortunate for some, then, that there are a great many action games that don’t involve blood and gore. 🙂
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Massed ranks of longbows ftw. If you’re target shooting at a knight bearing down on you, your side is already in deep doo-doo. But good eyesight is definitely a plus for impressing the ladies at tournaments.
Mostly consisting of a rather remarkable array of acronyms.
…Some days, it seems the world conspires to make me a prophet. 😉
Unfortunately, you’re more right than I’d like to admit, anymore. Recently, I stumped a student with…what was it, “autonomy,” I believe? :/
Been playing video games for over 30 years … so if that’s improved my eyesight in any way then I shiver to think how blind I would be if I had never played.
They did not prove that game practice improved players’ “eyes” – they proved that game practice improves perceptual performance. I’m guessing that the visual signal did not change but the players *learned* how to better use the signal. Glasses are used to improve the signal. Sebastian’s story is probable – your eyes could be getting worse even while you’re training yourself to be a better contrast-seer.