What do you get when you mix an eye test andUnreal Tournament? According to the researchers at the University of Rochester, you get improved overall vision.
Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green (of University of Rochester) created a study to test how playing video games affects a persons vision. They did this by finding a group of college students who didn’t game (blasphemy!) and tested their vision using what is called a crowding exam. When the results were recorded, the students were then separated into two groups (let’s call themTetrisandUT). These freaky non-gaming college students then spent roughly a month playing their respective games, after which, they were retested on the crowding exam.
The results? Well, it looks like all those hours you logged intoTetriswon’t get you 20/20. TheTetrisgroup showed no discernible improvement upon retest. TheUTgroup, however, showed about a twenty percent improvement in their retest results. Daphne Bavelier explains why:
“Action video game play changes the way our brains process visual information … 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.”
How ’bout them apples? Now, I don’t think that your opthamologist will be telling you to buy FPS’s anytime soon. But it is good to see that, once again, scientific testing proves something we already know. Video games are good for you.
