Video game health warning

A BRITISH study has found that a three-dimensional video game recently introduced into Hong Kong could damage players' eyesight and the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) says it will investigate the findings.

The game uses a two-kilogram headset which places game screens close to a player's eyes.

The helmet has sensors to allow a player to turn his head to the right or left to see a new field of view. If he looks behind, he will see the back view.

However, researchers at Edinburgh University and the Ministry of Defence in Britain have claimed the game caused nausea and permanent eye damage.

They said children were most at risk because their binocular vision was not as developed as adults, causing them to squint and become cross-eyed.

John Wann, a lecturer in human perception at the university said his results from tests on the eyes of those using the machines showed dangers to eyesight.

''If they are spending more than a few minutes with these headsets then there are serious strains on their eyesight.'' His colleague Mark Mon-Williams, an optometrist said: ''It is amazing what you are asking your eyes to do inside the headset.'' The Virtual Reality Club in Tsim Sha Tsui installed eight of the games in February - the first of their kind in the territory.