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Ophthalmologist Recommends Long-Term Trials On 3DS' Safety
Nintendo's 3DS has already garnered a ton of attention, thanks to its impressive 3D capabilities. Those very capabilities are also raising concerns from some in the medical community. The vice president of England's Royal College of Ophthalmologists had a chance to play with the system for a while, telling a British paper that he thinks that long-term trials on the potential effects would be sensible.
Larry Benjamin played Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition in a session set up by The Independent. Afterward, he had this to say about the experience: "It's remarkable 3D, but it's fairly dependent on your position. If you're just five degrees off, it doesn't quite work, which is tiring for the eyes... you continually have to readjust to 3D vision and that's making me feel a bit queasy. I think it's fair to warn people they may experience eye strain, double vision or difficulty focusing. I think it'd be sensible to do longer-term trials on it."
I've been able to spend a considerable chunk of time with the 3DS, and I have mixed feelings about The Independent's report. The lede is cute, though completely sensationalistic ("It promises unique 'eye-popping' entertainment, but what it actually delivers is nausea, sore eyes and dizzying headaches."), and it seems as though this was seen as an opportunity to take a few shots at Nintendo. At the same time, I understand the ophthalmologist's concern, too. This guy's probably forgotten more about vision and the human eye than most of us will ever know.
If you hold the 3DS at an off angle, the 3D image completely breaks. A person could try to adjust their focus to compensate, but it's so obviously out of alignment in those instances that the vast majority of players will simply change the handheld's angle. The 3DS' depth slider is a godsend, too. I found the effect to be a little overwhelming at its maximum setting, and adjusting the effect down to about one-third was best for me. I would hope that The Independent explained that feature to players, particularly the 13-year-old boy they cite who played for five minutes then got nauseous and had to quit.
I played on the 3DS for about eight hours on one day, and I didn't get headaches or feel nauseous. I was a little worried about my eyes at the start of the session, but my fears evaporated pretty quickly. Aside from the added illusion of depth, it wasn't any different than looking at any other LCD. Of course, that's just my experience. Do we know if other people will suffer long-term effects from playing too much 3DS? I have no idea. Nintendo doesn't seem to think so. One thing's for sure: We'll be hearing a lot more about this issue in the coming months.
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