Can Online Gaming Increase Reaction Time?
Over the last 10 years or so, online gaming and gaming has a whole has taken a huge leap forward, with incredibly realistic games ranging from shooters, such as the popular franchise ?Call Of Duty?, to racing games, such as ?Gran Turismo?. But do these games have any real benefit to those playing them?
There has always been an idea that due to the concentration levels obtained whilst playing many of these games, the player may often enter a state of higher awareness whilst playing, zoning out from the outside world and becoming enticed in their game, which in turn increases their reaction time and level of skill. After visiting an interesting conference back in 2011 at the big gaming event Blizzcon, it led me and many others to believe this to be true.
One of the side conferences held was one regarding the difference in a hardcore and casual gamer, and how one may be effected by their gaming in the real world. They had covered many areas of tests, from social skills, IQ, and the one i was most interested in, reaction and awareness.
A group of 5 gamers considered ?Hardcore?, were brought on stage, an elite crew that had been gaming religiously for over 10 years, and another group of individuals the same age as the first group, but with less time spent on games and more time in the real world. The first test was a reaction test, where you had to click a mouse on a computer screen as soon as it changed color. The average time of the casual gamers was around the 0.33s mark, and incredibly, the hardcore gamers had an average of just 0.21 seconds, a huge increase, giving us the first idea that hardcore gaming can give people a higher sense of reaction.
The second test was a tennis ball being shot out of a device, and players from each team had to take turns to catch it. And again, the gaming team took the lead with a 4-3 victory. With many years spent playing online games from a keyboard and mouse to a controller, it is believed that these individuals hand-eye co-ordination would be higher and more trained then an average person, giving them an edge here too.
The third test was my favorite, and really did take it to the ?real world?, and let us see whether or not these higher senses of reaction and awareness could actually help in the real world.
This test consisted of a driving school game, complete with steering wheel and pedals. The game was set up for a car to drive down a street, and you had to drive in and out of obstacles, and out of nowhere a child would step out in front of your car, and the faster you hit the brake, the quicker your reaction time. After each 5 members of the teams had taken part, it was a clear victory, with the online gaming team having an overall average stopping time almost 0.2s faster than the other team, it became clear that their heightened sense of reaction and awareness due to their many years of online gaming could be applied in the real world.
So a clear sweep for the online gaming team. Does that conclude that online gaming really does improve your real world reaction and awareness? Going by these tests alone, of course, but for more accurate statistics, a much larger field of candidates would need to be tested.
Everything in this post has been written from memory and some information may not be accurate. All tests were just for fun and hold no real proof that online gaming improves reaction and awareness. Feature image courtesy of Flickr user ?Duc Anh Dam?
Source: http://americanlivewire.com/can-online-gaming-increase-reaction-time/
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