Flash Focus: Can You Improve Your Vision?

There was a time when many parents believed (hoped) that video games were simply a fad - not unlike an expensive Mood Ring. Face it, a generation later, video games and other portable online entertainment systems are here to stay.

Technology transfer: The science used to develop the video game that destroys a space invader or tosses a football has found many other useful applications. ATM touch screens are a good example as well as those dashboard GPS locators. Notice that I did not mention airport check-in kiosks? For some reason they do not like me! Every time I try to check-in for a flight it nearly always denies me a boarding pass and redirects me to the ticket counter.

Skills transfer: It appears that video gamers enjoy heightened hand-eye coordination. Not long ago I posted a blog about published research demonstrating that laparoscopic surgeons who played lots of video games completed their procedures faster and with greater precision.

Visual rehabilitation: Amblyopia researchers now suspect video games may help accelerate the vision recovery in children with lazy eye.

So let's see, beyond providing countless hours of mindless entertainment, those demon video games simplify our lives, improve surgeons' outcomes, and help children regain clear eyesight. Maybe we were wrong!

Now the next advance in video game technology has arrived - handheld vision training. The product is called Flash Focus and is available for the Nintendo DS portable system.

According to Nintendo, Flash Focus users complete daily training activities to challenge hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, dynamic visual acuity, momentary vision and eye movement, then track their results with a calendar and easy-to-understand charts.

For years trainers and sport physiologists have relied on various vision training devices to help athletes with high speed visual tasks like batting a fastball and defending a hockey goal. Video game technology makes it portable and more accessible. Oh, it will also be much less expensive than any vision training clinic! Flash Focus features a variety of visual performance exercises. Not all are sports oriented - some exercises rely on dots and other simple symbols. No, you do not need to know anything about Zelda, Mario, or even Metroid Prime 3!

Do you already own a Nintendo DS handheld game console? Whether or not you are convinced that vision training leads to measurable, enduring vision skills, it might be fun to try Flash Focus. If nothing else it could become a fun party game...that is, if you're an eye doctor!

Related Topics:

• Action Video Games May Boost Vision
• Natural Vision Correction: Does It Work?

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