News Studies show FPS games improve vision

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/03/30/studies-show-fps-games-improves-vision/1

According to the latest addition of Nature Neuroscience, studies have shown that gamers got better at picking out grey tones against a uniform background.

 

Obviously I guess this is true only if you don't spend hours and hours on end in front of the PC playing FPS deteriorating your eyesight.

 

I believe us FPSers give more attention to tiny details after hunting for those pixels that give us headshots.
So we gain in situations such as identifying objects at distance and in movement. On the other hand, sometimes I feel my eyesight can get a little fatigued. It feels comfortable staring at a screen, but maybe that excess direct light is harmful for long periods.

Anobody agree?

 

Fixed that for you!

Goes to show I'm an avid FPS player, what with me spotting that typo right away.

 

I agree. I can read at longer distances and notice framerates below 60 generally better than my friends. I do however need glasses, so somethings deteriorated at some point.

 

Well, bugger! There goes my excsuse....now everyone will know my poor eyesight is from excessive masturbation

 

I think people develop a better situational awareness and not better eye sight. In the military you train to pay attention to details in your environment. That green patch of grass doesn't match the area hmmm it might be a spotter or that flicker of light might be a sniper scope. When playing games you train yourself to notice environmental changes too.

 

I think eye sight in this case refers to the brain's ability to process and identify visual info, not an improvement in the eyes themselves. Although that might be considered situational awareness by some, I prefer to think of situational awareness as the ability to identify an individual stimulus in a sea of stimuli. So while a normal person getting shot at from many directions might not be able to tell you anything about where the shots are coming from, a person will acute situational awareness would say "sniper east ridge, MG in the top level of the barn, etc." Just from listening to the sounds.

Even then I think games probably improve both. Ever sat down with someone who isn't a gamer and fired up an FPS? They're getting shot to pieces and you're either face-palming or screaming out the locations of the baddies, which seem so obvious to you that you think the other person is blind or something You don't even realize it normally, but you seem to have developed some sort of super-human sight from sitting in front of a screen all day.

 

I don't think your vision actually improves but you do get a better sense for awareness. According to what it says on the article it seems you don't actually see things better or more clearly, you just notice changes like movement or change of patterns. This doesn't really seem to me like improvement in vision itself but on how the brain processes the information your eyes are getting.

 

Situational awareness, to me, is more like "following" the happenings around you, not exactly knowing what's what.
For instance, situational awareness during driving is knowing there's a truck behind you, a motorcycle passing to your left and intense traffic ahead, avoiding surprises.

Identifying threats in a gunfire is a different skill, and so it identifying a different patch of green in the grass or noticing a change of patterns. Those aren't situational awareness AFAIK. But I do agree such skills are developed by games.

SA is a skill highly valued in flight sims. I've played Warbirds before, and that's where I learned how important it is to be aware and how good it is to dive under an enemy's tail.

 

Georgina Graham: What's the source of this study? I cannot find it anywhere online.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, another 5 minutes and I find it. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090329143326.htm

 

lmao, good one


My eyes have gotten worse over the last 5 years but not in all aspects. They seem 'faster' because I can see (or feel) the difference between 85 and 100hz (i know you don't believe it but anyway) and I am quite fast to notice little details or small movements in objects. However, I can't read from decent distances anymore, whether it's on a pc or in a book. Everything is just blurry as hell and I can't seem to force my eyes.

Actually there is one thing that happened a few times in the past... If I put my hand on one of my eyes, for example if I am tired and am supporting my head with my arm, then, after about a minute, my eye (left or right, it doesn't matter) is able to see everything in such a clear way that it feels as if I was zooming. It really feels like the screen is closer to me. It's hard to explain

I saw a doctor once and she said I had a slight problem with my eyes being lazy. If I close an eye or cover it, it'll start moving and will not stay in sync with the other one, which takes a slight time to adjust when I re-open it

annoying

 

Quite often. A friend of mine that visits will sometimes play World at War online at my apartment on the 360. I will be playing something on the computer but end up calling out a player at his right or left to take out that he didn't notice when I glance at the screen for a few seconds. Now if only that would kick in for me while I am actually playing instead of watching someone else then I'de be all set.

 

I may have lazy eyesight as well. I notice a certain delay to focus correctly (very short). Did your doctor suggest anything? I'm lucky to be spending less time on PCs recently.

 

That's pretty sweet, if you don't over do it

 

Well, lots of people have been saying "it doesnt improve your eyesight, it improves your situational awareness" and vice versa. But the article doesnt say anything about "improved eyesight" it says "improved contrast sensitivity". You could argue thats an improvement in eyesight, but eyesight is too general, like being able to focus more etc. whereas this is talking about contrast sensitivity, the body's response to a change in visionary situations. (sorry if i sound ignorant or anything ]

Personally i really enjoy fps games, but suck at them unless i play them alot, and well i have a terribly lazy left eye that is practically useless to me most of the time, but my peripheral vision is really good, so i will generally notice and adapt to those changes in visual situations alot quicker than what some of my old mates would have (ive moved on a bit in life) and they were the ones to point that out, as i would be able to notice stuff on screen, that they didnt.

Another thing, i went around a mates house and played CoD4, and was sitting a fair distance from the screen (2 meters maybe) and i was really bad at the game, but then when i moved to within a meter, i was instantly alot better, so i think this also could include the arguement of wether the distance you sit from the screen could affect your ability to noticed these changes, so for example someone sitting 30 cm away from the screen, could have a better, or worse, contrast sensitivity, compared to someone playing a 360 from 2-3 meters away.