Study: Video games can improve your vision
Moldova.ORG --Playing high-action video games for a few hours each day can improve your vision, according to researchers in the U.S.
The researchers from the University of Rochester in New York found that people who play video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month can improve certain aspects of their vision by about 20 percent.
The researcher made a test with the help of a group of students who played video games. The test that measured how well they could discern the orientation of a letter "T" within a crowd of other, distracting symbols
According to Maggie Woodhouse, a senior lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences at Cardiff University: "The test they're using is not for visual acuity.They've trained their students to make rapid eye movements and to scan large areas to find objects of interest. ... That is visual search."
There may indeed be a benefit from playing high-action video games, she said, but it will be in the ability to locate objects in a large or crowded area. That means it could help you pick out a friend's face at a football game, or play a fast-moving sport like ice hockey.
The improvement may not last for very long, however, and Woodhouse seemed to consider the overall impact of video games a negative one. Playing for too long can cause eye strain, she said. She also said playing video games "gives you brain damage," although that seemed to be her subjective view rather than a scientific one.
The researchers at Rochester University could not immediately be reached for comment. They said the results of their test suggest that people with visual defects could improve their visual acuity with special software that mimics the need to identify objects quickly in an action game
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