Twitter user’s eyesight improves after playing VR game for five hours a day for five months

19:18 cherishe 0 Comments

This would normally be incredibly straining on the eyes, but it turned out to be a blessing for this Japanese man.

Playing video games for too long has been thought of being dentrimental to brain development in children, and it’s really hard to imagine how staying glued to a TV or computer screen all day can be healthy.

However, maybe that’s just a misconception. For an alternative anecdote, take Japanese Twitter user 0yasum13. He reportedly plays a lot of VR games, racking up about 700 hours of game time in 140 days. That’s roughly five hours a day.

Staring at a tiny bright screen in VR headset for five hours every day would strain our eyes, possibly inflicting irreparable damage. But for 0yasum13, his eyesight somehow miraculously improved.

▼ He played VRChat, a free-to-play social game.
(Translation below)

“I’ve worn my VR goggles every day for about five months now, and it appears that my eyesight has improved. An eye examination revealed that my vision has improved from 0.3 to 1.0. I’ve always worn glasses, so I was really surprised when I could safely drive without wearing them. I wonder if it’s something to do with the two-meter focal point of VR goggles.”

▼ Are VR goggles the miraculous cure for vision impairment?

In an interview with Japanese video sharing website Niconico, 0yasum13 revealed that his choice of VR goggles was the Oculus Rift. Before he began delving into the world of VRChat in April 2017, he suffered moderate vision loss, measuring 0.3 and 0.5 for his left eye and right eye respectively. His eyesight was a solid 1.5 when he was young, but began deteriorating after he turned ten.

And as he continued chatting with online friends in the game, his vision slowly improved as he spent more time in VRChat. It was an extremely gradual process that was hardly noticeable, but on the morning of 3 August 2018, he felt the urge to take off his glasses to drive his car.

▼ That’s when he realized something had changed.

0yasum13 was excited yet still a little dubious as to how playing VR games could improve his eyesight, but he couldn’t deny the facts. His vision had recovered from 0.3 to an astonishing 1.0, which is classified as normal vision without the need for glasses.

So what were his Oculus Rift settings? When 0yasum13 calibrated the interpupillary distance (IPD) setting — the lateral distance between the pupils of each eye — he made sure to open his eyes as wide as he could. His brightness was also set a little dimmer than default, and he never wore glasses whenever he played.

▼ Remember to take this with a grain of salt.
(Translation below)

“Just remember that this is only limited to my experience. If you wish to improve your eyesight, please consult an ophthalmologist. If it’s your first time with VR, I’d highly recommend a game that allows you to explore wide open spaces rather than terrifying roller coasters.”

It bears mentioning that using VR headsets has not been scientifically proven to improve eyesight yet, and that 0yasum13’s case is perhaps a rare one. Before running out to buy an Oculus Rift in the hopes of improving your vision, we at SoraNews24 recommend that playing games, VR or not, should always be done in moderation.

Source: Twitter/@0yasum13 via Otakomu, Niconico News
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)



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