Now you have the ultimate excuse the next time you get into a multiplayer match and curse the heavens for why you keep getting destroyed by players who seem to lock onto you right away. According to recent research, some players seem to think so. One really can see the world faster than others.
In a study published in the academic journal Plos One (via the Guardian) titled “Speed of Vision: Individual Differences in Flicker Fusion Critical Thresholds,” participants observed a rapidly flashing light source and were asked to predict when it appeared. This article details an experiment in which the task was to identify the to be constant. Some people perceived the light flashing about 35 times per second as a steady beam of light, while others could perceive the light flashing at a rate of 60 times per second or more.
The study was repeated multiple times with the same participants, and the researchers found that although there were large individual differences, subjects who could perceive flickers of light at faster speeds were able to do so repeatedly.
Professor Kevin Mitchell, a neurobiologist at Trinity College, Dublin, said: “In high-speed situations, such as ball and ball games, where fast-moving objects need to be found or tracked, individual differences in perceptual speed may become apparent. I think there is,” he said. In situations where the visual scene changes rapidly, such as competitive games. ”
“Even before they pick up a racket to hit a tennis ball or grab a controller and dive into an online fantasy world, they may have an advantage over others.”
While this study is interesting, and I’m sure it makes me feel a little better when I remember playing Counter-Strike endlessly as a teenager and getting beaten over and over again, previous research… It gives us all hope.
Recognizing flickers of light is only part of the puzzle when looking at movement. Videos have been shown to invoke a different visual system than one that processes light alone, and can even be trained to improve vision.
In fact, games are sometimes used in vision therapy to treat specific symptoms and improve things like contrast sensitivity, attention, and object tracking.
So it turns out that my lack of ability was more likely due to lack of practice than my poor old comrades not being well-equipped to begin with. Still, there’s nothing wrong with having a head start in at least one area, so I’m willing to lean into the idea that some of us are simply more superhuman than others.
A comfortable frame rate is often due to being within the viewer’s eye range, but for me 60 fps is more than enough and also the fact that I don’t have to spend too much time on it. It’s a little comforting. My time was spent chasing the upper stratosphere of the frame and watching my game with smooth vision. A small mercy, isn’t it?