Studies show FPS games improve vision

A study has found that gamers' contrast sensitivity vision improves when playing FPS games. Contrast sensitivity is the body's response to a change in visionary situations, enabling you for example, to see in the dark or read. Like everything else it degrades in old age, but a new neuroscience study has shown that this may not be the case for avid gamers who enjoy a good gunfight.

According to leading researcher, Professor Daphne Bavelier of Rochester University "This is not a skill that people were supposed to get better at by training. It was something that we corrected for at the level of the optics of the eye – to get better contrast detection you get glasses or laser surgery."

So, after hooking a group of gamers for more than 50 hours on Call of Duty, and another group on an non-violent game, results showed that the vision of those who played Call of Duty had improved by 43 percent. When set against the results of the other group, whose vision failed to improve at all, such a result can no doubt be deemed as statistically significant.

Additionally, Bavelier found that rather than simply being a temporary boost in vision, "the positive effect remained months, even years after training, indicating long-lasting gains."

Finally then, a study that can devalues the age old argument that video games damage the eyesight, gamers can confidently shoot there way to healthier, long lasting vision.

Do you find that playing FPS games has improved your eyesight? Or do you find that shooting too many bad guys puts a strain on your eyes. Let us know your thoughts in the forum.