Playing 3D Video Games Boosts Stereo Vision
By Eric Craypo
Significance
Li et al. demonstrate that playing stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D), but not flat two-dimensional (2D), off-the-shelf video games enhances stereoacuity, and there is a dissociation between depth perception and contrast perception after gaming in 3D, indicating that the enhanced depth perception is not simply a consequence of improved contrast processing.
Abstract
Stereopsis, the vivid perception of three-dimensionality obtained when viewing with both eyes, based on binocular disparity is important for fine motor activities that require precise eye-hand coordination and efficient locomotion in rough terrain. It is well documented that playing two-dimensional (2D) video games results in improvements in a range of visual and cognitive tasks; however, to date it is not known whether playing three-dimensional (3D) video games results in improved stereopsis. Here we ask whether playing either flat 2D or stereoscopic 3D video games modifies depth perception in young people with healthy vision. Our experiments, surprisingly, suggest that playing immersive 3D, but not 2D, video games results in substantially enhanced stereoacuity. Interestingly, there was a dissociation between depth perception and contrast perception after gaming, indicating that the enhanced depth perception was not simply a consequence of improved contrast processing. Practicing a visual task repetitiously near threshold limits improves visual performance, also known as perceptual learning, our observations provide evidence that exposure to disparity cues in an artificial virtual gaming environment can stimulate functional plasticity of stereopsis. These types of stereoscopic video games may have therapeutic applications for the recovery of stereo vision in the disordered visual system.