3D is better for the eyes

As I was taking a break from multiple hours of gaming (that’s what we do here) I got to thinking about the 3DS and how our eyes can use it to their advantage. After 5 or so hours I felt I needed a break, my eyes were feeling a bit weird and tired from looking at a screen for so long, nothing bad just completely normal fatigue. I needed to go outside and look at real things. As I looked at the sky I felt my eyes relax instantly, looking into the distance made me feel better. Then I realised the eye fatigue could have been just from focusing on the same point the entire time, the distance from my eye to the screen. Not the screen itself.

What if I could do the same thing on the 3DS screen? The 3D allows the effect of looking into the distance just like a real distance. Sure, there’s going to be a screen there in reality, but your eyes will still be doing the same thing right? The focus is changing, the eyes are staying awake. My eyes never get tired at work, i’m always looking at different distances, my bench, the benches far away, and the benches in between. It’s exciting stuff, for my eyes at least, they love it. I’m going to go on the contrary to the fear speculation articles about 3DS being harsh and damaging on the eyes and predict it will improve gaming for everyone. My eyes felt great after 3 hours  at the public 3DS demonstration.

So what would this mean exactly? 24 hour gaming sessions? I’m sure its possible, but the direct effect it’ll have is it’ll make games more comfortable to play. Less irritation after hours of play, easier immersion, more game time, happier healthier people! Sounds good in theory right? In practice it’ll depend how well each game utilises 3D, Asphalt 3D was a game where the 3D was a bit all over the place and I can’t see that being comfortable for a long time. Zelda or Resident Evil however would be perfect, those are the types of games that I think will benefit so hugely from 3D that it’ll push the genres forward. The future is very exciting indeed.