How Virtual Reality (VR) affects the eyesight?

According to Dr David Allamby, clinical director of London’s Focus clinic, VR could lead to shortage of eye sight,Myopia, because it forces the eye to focus on short distances.

According to doctors a person can forget to blink when in stressful situation. Because VR games can lead to a lot of stress the person might stop blinking. This can lead to dry eyes.

Some experts have warned that VR could disrupt the way the brain and eyes work thus affecting how the eyes converge and diverge as we focus on objects at different distances. Many believe this effect is just temporary.

According to a study rats had 60% of their Hippocampus shutting down when immersed in a VR enviroment. This is the part of the brain that maps the individual location in space.

According to many experts the long term effects of VR are still unknown and require further research. (See Is Virtual Reality Bad for Your Eyes?)

Some experts suggest that VR could be less dangerous than smartphones because they force the brain to focus on objects that seem distant as if the person is looking at a far object.

According to experts the way VR works can cause eye strain and can make a person’s eye hurt. This doesn’t happen with everybody but it’s still a risk.

Some experts have claimed that VR can actually be good for the eyes and less harmful than smart phones because it forces the eye to focus on far objects naturally.

VR could be harmful for children’s eyes and brain. While research is still going on most VR manufactures warn that their headsets should not be used by children below 12-13 years old. (See Why PlayStation VR is Bad?)

If the VR lens itself got damaged because of excessive sunlight for example then it could converge the rays in a different way and thus could potentially harm the eyes.

Some people suggested that prolonged use of VR might cause retina damage. Research is still at an early phase and no evidence for that is present yet.