Video games can improve eye sight, says study

NEW YORK: Playing video games that involve firing guns could improve eyesight, suggests a study.

Playing “Gears of War,” “Lost Planet,” “Halo” and other action video games can improve eyesight, say Daphne Bevelier of the University of Rochester and other researchers who conducted tests on 10 male college students.

The students started out as non-gamers and then received 30 hours of training on first-person shooter action video games, reports the online edition of FOX News.

The participants showed a substantial increase in their ability to see objects accurately in a cluttered space compared to 10 non-gamers given the same test. Most aspects of vision have to do with the size of one’s eye and the thickness and shape of the cornea and lens.

But some visual defects are neural in nature, said Bevelier, author of the new study on vision and video games published in the journal Psychological Science.

First-person shooter action games helped study subjects improve their spatial resolution, meaning their ability to clearly see small, closely packed together objects such as letters, she said.

It could be also a useful rehabilitation therapy for people with certain vision problems. Another study has showed that playing virtual-reality games that involved physical motion helped stroke victims improve their ability to walk.