Playing action video games may help adults improve their eyesight, according to a study released Sunday.
A new study finds that playing action video games such as "Call of Duty 2" can help improve eyesight.
(Credit: Activision)People who used a video-game training program saw improvements in their contrast sensitivity, or the ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray, according to a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The training could be beneficial to people who have amblyopia--commonly known as lazy eye--and those who have trouble seeing while driving at night, the study said.
"Normally, improving contrast sensitivity means getting glasses or eye surgery--somehow changing the optics of the eye," Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, said in a statement. "But we've found that action video games train the brain to process the existing visual information more efficiently, and the improvements last for months after game play stopped."
Researchers studied two groups that played video games for 50 hours during a nine-week course. One group played action games such as "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament 2004." Another group played non-action games such as "Sims 2," which doesn't require precise, visually guided aiming actions. People who played the action games showed enhanced contrast sensitivity compared with those in the non-action game group, with improvements ranging from 43 percent to 58 percent, according to the study.
"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that contrast sensitivity can be improved by simple training," Bavelier said. "When people play action games, they're changing the brain's pathway responsible for visual processing. These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it, and we've seen the positive effect remains even two years after the training was over."
The results appear to mirror those in a 2007 study that found people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved their spatial resolution by about 20 percent.
Researchers suggested that the video game training's effect could last for years and could be a useful complement to other eye-correction techniques such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery. The study, which was funded by the National Eye Institute and the Office of Naval Research, noted that not all action games have such a benefit to the visually impaired.
(Credit:
Eyetonomy)
It may not qualify as fashion eyewear, unless you're Elton John, but that's hardly a high priority when something as serious as glaucoma is at issue. The "SightMate LV920" from a company called Eyetonomy is a wearable device that's designed to correct poor eyesight for those suffering from severe visual disabilities.
(Credit:
Eyetonomy)
The key to the system is a 2-megapixel camera with a 3x zoom situated between the eyes, providing images on twin 640x480 displays that can be tilted as much as 15 degrees for comfort, according to DailyTech. The 8-ounce headgear comes with a remote that controls magnification and other features.
The SightMate, which can also help those who are colorblind, comes at the considerable expense of $3,499. But maybe it will save some money by obviating the need for a colorblind-correcting LCD monitor. And that could be especially good news, because the SightMate is recommended for use only while sitting.
(Thanks for the tip, Jessica)
(Credit:
NTT DoCoMo)
It's karma: As the ravages of age befall us, products for the elderly that we used to mock suddenly don't seem so funny anymore. (It starts with bifocals.)
Nowhere is that truer than in Japan, where the aging population has become a source of national concern. So it's appropriate that NTT DoCoMo has developed the "Raku-Raku," a mobile phone designed specifically for people with impaired eyesight and hearing. The phone can slow down the words of an incoming call, read text and numbers aloud, and adjust ringtones and volume according to external noise, according to Textually.org.
It even has a pedometer to keep track of our mall walks. We're now officially depressed.
If the ever-increasing strength of my reading glasses is any indication, all this daily staring at a computer screen is taking an exacting toll on my eyes. However, help may be on the way in the form of Halo 2, if a new study from the University of Rochester is to be believed.
The research showed that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved their vision by about 20 percent. That would pretty much put me back where I was before I ditched the newspaper world to become a new-media hound.
Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green tested
the impact of video games on the eyes.
"Action video gameplay changes the way our brains process visual information," said Daphne Bavelier, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the university. "After just 30 hours, players showed a substantial increase in the spatial resolution of their vision, meaning they could see figures like those on an eye chart more clearly, even when other symbols crowded in."
Bavelier and graduate student Shawn Green tested college students who had played few, if any, video games in the last year.
After some intense shoot 'em up action, the improvement was seen both in the part of the visual field where video game players typically play, and in the part of the vision beyond the monitor. The students' vision improved in the center and at the periphery where they had not been "trained." That suggests that people with visual deficits, such as amblyopic patients, may also be able to gain an increase in their visual acuity with special rehabilitation software that reproduces an action game's need to identify objects very quickly.
The research, which was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, will appear next week in the journal Psychological Science. In the meantime, I'm off to learn Unreal Tournament.
(Credit:
Technobrands)
OK, before you start laughing, consider how your parents might use a computer as they get older--and even yourself, for that matter. The "Vision Board II" is a keyboard that would make life substantially easier for a person whose eyesight isn't what it used to be, similar in concept to phones with large numbers.
Not only are they more legible, but Uber-Review says the 1-inch-square keys also reduce the chances of mistyping because they're nearly twice the size of normal ones. The "F" keys are designed in a distinctive oval shape to make it easier to position your hands correctly. With devices and keyboards getting smaller all the time, it's nice to see one piece of equipment that opts for practicality, not fashion.
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