Report: Experts Say Nintendo Goes Overboard With 3-D Warnings

Wednesday's New York Times quotes some eye experts as saying that Nintendo's warnings about children using the 3DS display might be overblown:

Dr. David Hunter, professor of ophthalmology at Harvard University and ophthalmologist-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Boston, said there appears scant evidence that such imagery hurts eye development. That’s because to a large extent, he said, three-dimensional projections approximate the way the human eyes construct 3-D images.

Nintendo has said that it will not allow children 6 and younger to use the 3-D effect of the Nintendo 3DS when they demo the handheld machine at its preview events, citing potential ill effects on kids' developing eyesight. It is advising parents to lock the 3-D display capability using parental control functions on the device.

The company's concerns could be founded on findings like this, which Dr. Hunter mentions later in the Times piece:

Further, he said, a child’s eye can be fragile and does develop in response to the environment. In an extreme example, he noted, if an infant is fitted with a patch on one eye, that eye will effectively go blind and vision capabilities will re-focus around the other eye.

Based on the experts' opinions, the potential for ill side effects from children using a 3-D display sounds anywhere from minimal to nonexistent. Seems like Nintendo is making sure that it is covered in the event of a lawsuit, even a frivolous one.

Eye Specialists Question Nintendo Warning [New York Times]

Image courtesy Nintendo