Certain Video Games are Good for the Eyes

Aside from the obvious eye strain and negative vision change that occurs from playing too long, sitting too close to the screen, and not taking breaks, there’s at least one other impact video games have on our eyes–and it’s actually a good thing. A new study shows that fast-paced, action-packed video games like FPSs stimulate the eyes, and can help develop visual processing.

While parents and mainstream media bash video games because of their supposed negative impact on players, there are studies performed that point out there are benefits to gaming. One such study was done at the University of Rochester in New York by Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Daphne Bavelier, and graduate student Shawn Green. They took two groups, one that played Unreal Tournament and another that played Tetris, and had them play for about an hour a day for a month. Their results showed that the group that played UT performed 20% better on a spatial/visual recognition test than the group that played Tetris.

The spatial/visual recognition test they used determines how quickly and clearly a subject can point out a certain object within an environment filled with other symbols. Admittedly, Tetris can get damn fast, but it’s just oddly shaped bricks; no one’s waiting to shoot you right around the corner!

Bavelier says that “[w]hen 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.” The 20% gap in results was just after one month; imagine what it could do after years, unless there’s a threshold for just how much an eye can develop. Not only that, but imagine what it could do for those who have lazy eye and other spatial impairments. It’s not that FPSs will definitely help them, but using elements from FPSs to aid in quick identification could be used in rehabilitation software. Video games, FTW!

Don’t be too hasty, though, because these benefits aren’t for all genres. If you play mostly RPGs and strategy games that capture your attention for hours on end because of their slow pace, you’re out of luck; you only get the negative effects from sitting too close to your TVs.