Could playing video games lead to hallucinations?

LONDON: Video game players may experience altered visual perceptions after playing, a new study has found.

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University’s International Gaming Research Unit found that some video game players experienced distorted versions of real world surroundings.

Others saw video game images and misinterpreted real life objects after they had stopped playing.

Gamers also reported seeing video game menus popping up in front of their eyes when they were in a conversation, or saw coloured images and ‘heads up’ displays when driving on the motorway.

The study involved the analysis of 656 experiences from 483 gamers collected in 54 online video game forums.

This is the first of a series of studies that aims to identify, classify and explain ‘Game Transfer Phenomena’ (GTP) experiences via the different senses: sight, sound and touch, researchers said.

GTP research focuses on gamers’ perceptions, cognitions and behaviours influenced by video game playing and aims to further understand the psychosocial implications of altered perceptions induced by virtual technologies.

Visual illusions can easily trick the brain and staring at visual stimuli can cause ‘after-images’ or ‘ghost images’.

The novelty of this new study, the researchers said, is that GTP were triggered by associations between video game experiences and objects and activities in real life contexts.

The findings also raise questions about the effects of the exposure to certain visual effects used in video games, researchers said.