While you are in the flow of an enthralling game, you wouldn't actually stop to consider whether gaining some virtual points in the game is worth it, while your eyesight is being permanently ruined in the process. For the past few decades we've been in a phase of worsening eyesight. While this is great for the revenue of various companies, I believe it's time we do things more responsibly. It's time to make it a standard practice for every game to have an algorithm which pauses the game and allows players to close their eyes to rest.
If you aren't already familiar with The Real Cure for Eye Strain, I suggest reading it first.
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| Image by Christiana from Pixabay |
Possible for multiplayer games too
With single player games it's simple enough for the algorithm to start assessing whether to pause the game or not as the timer approaches 20 minutes. For example, the game shouldn't pause just when the character is jumping over a pool of lava. However, for multiplayer games, synchronizing the pause is difficult due to latency. With good engineering, even this can be accomplished.
For example, in a shooting game, as the timer approaches 20 minutes, an audio cue and a visual cue could inform players that it's almost time for a rest break, and timers can be synchronized among all players. When it's time for the break, a shield can be created around all players, to prevent anything from affecting them, and all players and game elements can be frozen. Before any player joins the game, they'd have to agree to what duration of gaming and rest intervals they are comfortable with.
I’m sure you could come up with more creative ways of integrating a rest timer into games and incentivizing players to take rest.
An alternative…
…is to design games with levels or missions that can be completed in less than 20 minutes, and the player can be offered a break during the next level/mission’s loading screen. I know not all games can be designed like this, but I’m merely brainstorming here.
Help people heal. Prioritize health; not wealth.
It’s easy to put the onus on people to take rest. Similar to how you
could say that it’s upto people to drive vehicles safely. Still, it
helps to have seat belts and air bags. In the same way, game engines
need tools built in for rest breaks. Kids and even adults often don’t
understand the consequences of long hours of gaming, and end up
permanently ruining their vision. I know game studios would not want to
give players a chance to get distracted from the game, but we really
need to create a better world where health is valued more than wealth
and entertainment.
We’ve been taking our eye health too casually. Myopia is not normal. The need to wear spectacles is a massive danger sign that the eyes are severely affected and that one needs to immediately start a regimen of getting proper sleep and rest. The progression of myopia is an even bigger danger signal that our eyes aren’t able to cope with the torture we are putting them through. Our eyes are not evolved to keep staring in one direction for too long. Parents can actually do a lot to save their children from poor vision. Whether it’s office work or school or gaming, let us begin taking concrete steps to build healthy practices and standard procedures to prevent people from having to even need spectacles. Normal vision is too precious a gift to ruin.
