New Research Center claims that playing UT improves vision

Feb 8, 2007 11:13 GMT  ·  By

And they're not just blowing their mouths; an actual survey has been made using gamer students for a month to see how much does playing the game improve vision. The results: after one month's play, the students' vision had improved by some 20%, or at least so say those at University of Rochester.

Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester said: "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."

These are the facts, no arguing that, but let's stop for a minute and think about what we've just heard/read. I myself am a four-eye and ever since my 8th birthday, I have been wearing glasses. My current age is 22 and all this time, I made plenty of visits to my optician who has always encouraged me to wear my glasses at all times. Why do you think I'm telling you the story of my life?

The reason why doctors always advise constant wearing of the spectacles is because it helps the eye muscles relax, thus avoiding the aggravation of the condition. Now, it doesn't matter if you have a condition or not, your eye-sight can easily decrease if eyes are solicited too much. So how does an attention demanding game like Unreal Tournament manage not to ruin eye-sight, but to actually improve it?

It's simple, it doesn't actually improve sight. What it improves is the players' perception of the reality surrounding them. The process doesn't take place in the eye-ball but in the brain. The eye takes the information in the same manner it did before playing the game, but the brain's job in processing that information is easier now that the game's visuals taught it about attention, and interpretation. So don't be fooled by this eye improving UT game title, it's just another way of making you get it. Why don't they just say it's one hell of a game and leave it like that? It is you know.