Screen Time Can Change Visual Perception But Not Always In a Bad Way

Feb, 2021 - By WMR

The global pandemic has moved daily interactions to online platforms from in-person classrooms to meetings and conferences. It is not clear how screen time will affect our vision.

It will not impact the vision, according to a research from the laboratory of Peter Gerhardstein, Professor of Psychology and Coordinator, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Binghamton University. In an upcoming issue, Gerhardstein's students will be publishing a paper on Mind-Craft: Exploring the online visual experience effect on the sensitivity in visual outline perception. The paper will be published in the academic journal, Perception.

The research focuses on an individualâ€™s vision's basic element, the perception of alignment of the environment. There exists a small pre-domination of horizontal as well as vertical planes in our vision as per a study conducted by Daniel Hipp, co-author, to which Gerhardstein explained that the digital world inclines the prevalence of vertical and horizontal planes. According to the research, humans are more likely to pay attention to vertical and horizontal orientations. Orientation is considered to be an important feature of how an individualâ€™s eyes and brain work together.

In the phase two of the research, the team will track the development in vision in two groups of children. The two groups would be decided, amongst which the first one will regularly spend time playing video games and other group will avoid any type of screen time.

Another research group examined the effect of digital exposure on other features of an individualâ€™s visual perception and concluded that long-term changes take place but some of them are considered helpful as humans are more likely to adapt to the environment which they experience daily. Children in the age group of 10 to 12 years have already grown with these electronic devices and will, in the future, operate in the digital world. Therefore, they will adapt to a highly sensitive visual system.