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Science Says Video Games Are Good For Your Eyes

Researchers recently reported findings that playing first-person shooters can help your eyesight.

Scientists took six subjects with cataract disorders and asked them to play Medal of Honor for 40 hours over the course of a month. The subjects played the game for two hours a day, five days a week, for a month. Daphne Maurer of McMaster University in Canada who led the study said that playtime was limited becasue she didn't want to the patients to become addicted to the game. That's also probably the reason they chose Medal of Honor instead of Battlefield 3 or Call of Duty, I assume.

Five of the six participants showed improvement after the month was up. "They were able to recognize faces more easily, as well as make out small print and judge the direction of moving dots." This is good news for EA. They can now put a bullet on the back Medal of Honor boxes that reads, "improves eyesight!"

Maurer said, “the visual nervous system is still plastic enough to either form or reveal connections in adulthood….and we suspect that might be true for any kind of visual defect.”

The next step for Maurer and her team is to create, "the perfect vision-improving non-violent video game." Someone should show them Portal and Portal 2.

Thanks to Andrew for the news tip!

[via Digital Trends]

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Comments
  • EA will take advantage of this somehow... I know it.
  • Well, how about that! Video games are GOOD for your eyes!
  • lol
  • By this logic, I have the healthiest eyes in the world. BLESS YOU, VALVE!
  • I will say once you play a bunch of FPS, you seem to be able to pick things out of the scenery easier. Always afraid it could be a sniper I guess..
  • I'm glad all my hours spent playing TF2 is improving my eye sight. ^_^
  • So that is why I have good eye sight.
  • Yeah Science!

  • "Daphne Maurer of McMaster University in Canada who led the study said that playtime was limited becasue she didn't want to the patients to become addicted to the game. That's also probably the reason they chose Medal of Honor instead of Battlefield 3 or Call of Duty, I assume." lol Burn!!
  • That's not true for me. My eyes hurt whenever I play a handheld system.
  • there is no way they could have got addicted.  xD

  • awesome blasphemy!
  • I'd lie and say my eyesight was better too if i had to play medal of honour
  • Up next, teach you kids how to read by having them play RPGs. On another note, hooray for science!
  • I have glasses, so I think I need to play a little more cod and battlefield. Yay for video games!
  • Mod

    This is true! I have severe amblyopia in my left eye, and while it still sucks, it has improved greatly since I first started playing games a few years ago, in my mid twenties. I say that just to show that it wasn't my growth or development that helped to improve the eye.

  • I didnt see this coming, reacently all video game science has been negative, nice for a change!

  • another reason why video games are the best form of entertament
  • I have been playing video games since I was 9(I am 21 atm) and everyone said I would go blind because I stare at the screen too long. Heh,I just went to get my eyes checked out and I have 20/13 Vision. That is above average by quite a bit. I can see from 20ft away what people can see only from 13 feet away.
  • Huh, video games are good for your eyes. Well, they are, unless you do what I did to wreck my eyes. Played pokemon on a gameboy advance for 6 hours straight at night with the lights off so mom didn't notice.
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