Science Believes that 3D movies hurt your eyes

[Lord_Stewie]

Hey,

Interesting article thought I should share with you guys.

Now we know about the 3D fever that Hollywood created recently with the Box office titan "Avatar". With the huge success at the Box Office both Domestically and Internationally racking up:

Domestic: $696,005,000 28.2%
+ Foreign: $1,775,000,000 71.8%
= Worldwide: $2,471,005,000

Thanks to the massive numbers other studios are calling audibles to get in the game.

However, science got involved in the game and this is what they had to say about 3D movies.

We knew it: 3-D films are trying to kill you with migraines and crappy vision. A new study proves the relationship between 3-D and headaches. But will this stop Hollywood's slate of 32 (and counting) upcoming 3-D films?

A study at the University of California Berkeley found that 3-D movies can cause eyestrain along with headaches. Apparently, 3-D doesn't allow our eyes to "follow the rules" because we're busy focusing on things both far and near at the same time, hence the headaches and blurred vision. Professor Martin Banks explained this to VOA Health.

"You're taking that normal relationship which has been coupled in the brain for years and you're changing it. And what we showed is that can cause fatigue."

Not only that, 3-D is worse for your children and the youth of tomorrow, because younger viewers are far more susceptible to the ill effects of 3-D:

"When you hit your 50s and 60s, we think that concern is going to be reduced...So that is probably more problematic for young adults, teenagers, et cetera."

I myself am a long-term sufferer of 3-D fatigue, and while it's fun to slap on the old glasses now and again, my heart is filled with dread by the band-wagoning approach Hollywood has had with 3-D since Avatar hit big.

What is your take on this? Is it going to slow the 3D fever that swept the world with Avatar?.

Enjoy.

[vegeta88]

I think that the trend is going to die down a bit and we are going to get 1-2 real 3D films a year. It is popular right now but people are going to realize that converted 3D is not comparable to native 3D so movies will stop making them (for now). Native 3D is expensive and the market will be over saturated to the point that only the really big movies (Spider-Man and Transformers type movies) will do it. Those will be the events of the year and will continue to garner enough money to make more.

As for the health, I am wondering if a few hours a year is really that unhealthy. If so, the public won't care. Look at fast food, everyone knows it is extremely unhealthy yet there is a fast food restaurant on every block.

I could be wrong and everything might be in 3D by 2015.

[TylerDurden]

Eating fast food wont kill you, just depends on the volume of consumption and the items selected. Alot of fast food is now geared towards health nuts.

As for 3d giving you headaches I get them just by playing CODM2 after an hour. I really dont like that all these movies are 3d now. Its a whole bandwagon effect and I hope it dies down. I guess for those who do enjoy it I hope they get their moneys worth. I just don't want to pay for it.

[P@t_Mtl]

Kids don't care.

Look at how many of them are destroying their earing with listening to ultra loud music with their Ipod. If playing 10 hours of 3D games on their PS4 hurt their eyes, do you really think they will care? As long as it's cool they will do it.

[MaCruz]

Yes! Science is right. 3D hurts my eyes and makes me .

[Show spoiler] Except for Avatar

[tyz]

Originally Posted by MaCruz

Yes! Science is right. 3D hurts my eyes and makes me .

[Show spoiler] Except for Avatar

Right on. . .I don't see the appeal. I won't be buying into 3D players or any of that crap.

[jw]

I personally cant watch 3-D, Thats how my eyes feel

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

I personally cant watch 3-D, Thats how my eyes feel

To a certain extent or can't at all.

I can't watch 3Ds in Imax now that really does give me a headache and makes it hard to follow the presentation.

I am thinking that studios should know (which I believe they do) that 3D isn't 100% consumer friendly and its a waste of money for them, because it really doesn't attract audiences all the time except sometimes depending on the movie.

[jw]

not at all, I wear glasses so those 3-D jobbers are an inconvenience

[Lord_Stewie]

lol, tell me about it. I wear glasses as well so it is a fight every time I try to watch a 3D movie.

So definitely I know what you mean.

[PS3-Playb3yond]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

not at all, I wear glasses so those 3-D jobbers are an inconvenience

Same here.

I agree with Science. They are bad for your eyes.

[Jwilly019]

I agree with others here when I say that I think the 3D hype will eventually die down. Right now the studios are just trying to cash in on the next big fad. I can't imagine that watching 10-20 hours of 3D a year will cause any long-term problems with your vision. Of course, if I'm wrong and it catches on, further studies might be necessary.

As for the younger generation no carrying about destroying their hearing, I completely agree. I consider myself an exception to this generalization, but I see it all the time. Just the other day there was a girl about 15 feet from me listening to her iPod and I could hear every single word from the song she was listening to.

Justin

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Jwilly019

As for the younger generation no carrying about destroying their hearing, I completely agree. I consider myself an exception to this generalization, but I see it all the time. Just the other day there was a girl about 15 feet from me listening to her iPod and I could hear every single word from the song she was listening to.

Justin

Yep! I hear it all the time in the bus. I remember being a kids once in another lifetime now When you are a kid you think you are indestructible, old age is such a long way off, ear damages, eye damages...please that is for my grand father I am sure 3D will be huge with gamers, I can see how that would attract them. Damages to their eyes if there are some, do they care? of course not.

Personaly I am not that interested in 3D. Once in a while in theaters yeah maybe for a movie like Avatar. At least 3D help cover the awfull story, script and acting

[vonzipper3]

The Powers that Be Say! (KEEP THEM BLIND,DEAF,DUMB,UNINFORMED & OVERWEIGHT SO WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT, WHEN WE WANT)

[Q?]

I saw Ice Age 3 3D last year, it was a mixed experience.
It hurt my eyes and I got a uncomfortable headache, it wasn't much but it definitely proved to me that 3D won't improve the experience at all.

Ice Age 3 still sucked, didn't help much.

So I really have no interest in 3D.

[Steve]

I don't have a problem with the idea that it can cause serious headaches in people. When I watched Avatar I noticed several times in certain scenes that I couldn't focus on anything in the background. Like if a character was walking across the lab and the camera followed them, while the camera was in motion making the pan across the scene, I couldn't focus on anything in the background as it went by at all until the camera stopped moving. The 3D effect is a neat gimmick, but it's not perfect IMO.

I also see where it can be a pain to people who wear glasses. My mom does, and I think she left the theater with a sore neck because of the way she had to hold her head for 2 hours and 40 minutes so she should see the movie through two pairs of glasses.

[Jwilly019]

Originally Posted by Steve

I also see where it can be a pain to people who wear glasses. My mom does, and I think she left the theater with a sore neck because of the way she had to hold her head for 2 hours and 40 minutes so she should see the movie through two pairs of glasses.

This is certainly a YMMV type of thing. I wear glasses and was able to wear both pairs of glasses just fine throughout the movie. I would say it depends on what kind of frames you have.

Justin

[Clark Kent]

I got eye strain after sitting through Coraline in 3-D. The studios always push this fad about every twenty years to help sagging revenues. It is a gimmick until we get true virtual reality projection.

[SquidPuppet]

I do not experience eye fatigue, strain or pain, and I do not get headaches. But I dont enjoy 3D beyond a once every couple of years novelty.

I especially wont see any serious films in 3D.

Wont convert at home either.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I got eye strain after sitting through Coraline in 3-D. The studios always push this fad about every twenty years to help sagging revenues. It is a gimmick until we get true virtual reality projection.

I remember when I was a kid and they were going to broadcast The Creature From the Black Lagoon on TV in 3D and they were making this huge deal out of it. People were going out to get the red and blue cardboard glasses. IIRC, it pretty much sucked.