The good news, EA can claim that 2010’s Medal of Honor reboot can improve the eyesight of those who suffer from lifelong vision problems. The bad news: Researchers used it in a study where they didn’t want players to become addicted to the gameplay.
The study, led by a researcher from McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario, examined six patients with lifelong cataract disorders and had them play Medal of Honor for 40 hours over the course of the month. Gamers were asked to play the game for five days a week, for a maximum of two hours a day. The lead researcher set a time limit because she didn’t want players becoming addicted.
After the prescribed period of gameplay, the study found the vision in five of the six patients showed improvement — they were able to read small print, make out faces better, and track moving dots.
“About two-thirds of the things we measured improved simply from playing an action video game,” said the lead researcher, Daphne Maurer of McMaster. “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 results were strong enough to cause Mauer’s team to begin work on creating a vision-improving nonviolent video game.
Good news for gamers: video games can improve your eyesight [Digital Trends via Game Informer]
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