Japanese researchers from Kwansei Gakuin University’s Graduate School of Science and Engineering have published a small study about a virtual reality video game that can reportedly improve players’ eyesight instead of damaging it. The researchers had a group of 10 people play a very simple VR video game at certain intervals over a period of six weeks to see how it impacted their eyesight. The game used during this study was a relatively simple one that required players to use their VR set controllers to aim and shoot at circular targets that got pushed further back with every successful hit. This repetitive task required players to practice looking at targets both up close and far into the distance in order to beat the game. After analyzing the results, they concluded that even participants who had only played the game at three-day intervals showed measurable eyesight improvements compared to the start of the study.

Doctors have long known that staring at digital screens for a long time can cause a condition known as pseudo-myopia (假性近视), which basically has the same symptoms as myopia, only they are more easily reversible. Pseudo-myopia sufferers can recover through “perspective exercises” and “distance staring”, so researchers created the VR game that incorporated these exercises. 

Interestingly, the players exhibiting moderate (中等的) to severe short-sightedness at first showed the most impressive eyesight improvements at the end of the six weeks, whereas those with mild symptoms did not see that much improvement. Researchers believe that this was because the former category suffered from pseudo-myopia, which is easier to reverse, whereas the latter had myopia, which is harder to reverse without surgery or expensive eyeglasses. Researchers now plan to extend their experiments to test the full potential of their VR video game, but even if it works best on pseudo-myopia, it could still help millions of young people who spend most of their time with their eyeballs glued to digital screens improve their eyesight. If left untreated, pseudo-myopia often leads to myopia.