Vaporize meteoroids with a giant laser…for your health!
Many of us as kids have probably been scolded for playing too many video games with the threat that it will “damage your eyesight”. There is still some debate about how true or false that is, but a new game has been developed that can definitely save people’s eyesight.
Meteor Blaster is a simple browser-based shooting game for smartphones developed by Sendai Television and Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine. It was patented last July and it hopes to help people detect early symptoms of glaucoma by just playing for five minutes.
The best way to access the game is to use this QR code. You have to turn your smartphone sideways to charge it properly
Image: Sendai Television
To play, all you need to do is hold the smartphone about 30 centimeters (one foot) from your face and operate the stationary laser cannon to fire meteoroids as they float in your crosshairs. At the same time white dots appear on the screen, then you need to press the “CAPTURE” button for interstellar reasons beyond our puny earthly comprehension.
Since the game evaluates your eyesight, you should use the recommended screen distance
Image: @Press
After going through four stages of this, Meteor Blaster will give you an overview of your vision in each eye. The screen is divided into 16 sections and a score from one to five is assigned to each area, with one being great and five being very bad in regards to how well each of your eyes can detect things there.
Results left eye: “The number of lights captured is fantastic. Do your best to maintain this condition!”
Image: © SoraNews24
Right eye results: While both were good, it was interesting to see that my left eye was noticeably stronger
Image: © SoraNews24
If scores of five come out, it could be a sign of the early stages of glaucoma and you should see a professional. Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerves that starts small but gets worse if not noticed. It is surprisingly common in about one in 20 people over 40 who suffer from it.
Even more terrifying is that it is the leading cause of blindness in Japan, mainly because people don’t notice it early enough to seek treatment. Professor Toru Nakazawa, who helped develop Meteor Blaster, said: “Glaucoma is a disease that is difficult to notice. There are an estimated 4.65 million patients in Japan, but about 90 percent do not go to hospital.”
I’m going to pause this important health info to show you all my sweet score. I would have done better, but on the third podium, a fly flew in my face.
Image: © SoraNews24
Professor Nakazawa adds: “If glaucoma is detected early, treatment is more effective and in many cases no blindness occurs. By the time it becomes noticeable in your daily life, it is often too late.”
The game is really a great idea that costs nothing and takes up very little of your time, but can save you a lot of suffering in the long run. Online reactions were also very enthusiastic about the game, with some knowing all too well the silent dangers of glaucoma.
“This is amazing!”
“People tend to confuse glaucoma with vision loss due to old age.”
“Eye clinics and eyewear stores should have the game in their waiting areas.”
“Glaucoma can make you blind, even if you have perfect vision.”
“What a great use of technology.”
“Finally a game I can convince my parents to play.”
“Amazing that they can detect glaucoma with a game.”
“I have glaucoma in one eye and can’t see well. I wish I’d known sooner…’
“The music in level four is surprisingly good.”
I was also a little surprised at the production value of this game, possibly due to Sendai Television’s involvement in its creation. A representative from the broadcaster said they were happy to help break the stigma that games are bad for eyesight, and hope to extend it in other ways to promote eye health.
It is certainly a great development to use video games as a diagnostic tool and to improve our health. I really hope someone can come up with a kidney stone detection game after this so I can destroy those suckers before they become a problem too.
Source: Meteor Blaster, Sendai Television, The Sankei News, Hachima Kiko, @Press
Top image: @Press
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