IED Detection: One Skill Gaming Does Not Improve
IED Detection: One Skill Gaming Does Not Improve
October 29, 2009
While gamers might be adept at flying drones and operating other types of high-tech military weaponry, they finish behind two other groups of personnel when it comes to being skilled at detecting improvised explosive devices (IED).
The Los Angeles Times reports that military personnel with hunting backgrounds or those who come from tough urban neighborhoods surpassed gamers when it came to spotting explosive devices.
Why is this the case? Gamers “do not seem to have the depth perception and peripheral vision of the others, even if their eyesight is 20/20” states the article. Army Sgt. Maj. Todd Burnett added:
Video game enthusiasts are narrower in their focus, as if the windshield of their Humvee is a computer screen. The gamers are very focused on the screen rather than the whole surrounding.
Sgt. Maj. Burnett said that the best class of soldiers he’s ever seen at detecting IEDs were members of the South Carolina National Guard, nearly all of whom are from rural areas and participated in hunting.
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Posted 02/09/10 at 07:00am
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Posted 02/08/10 at 10:22pm
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
Posted 02/08/10 at 09:36pm
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:22pm
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:21pm
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:20pm
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:04pm
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:50pm
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:04pm
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:02pm
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:59pm
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:58pm
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
Valdearg: @Gelly: As much as I hate to admit it, it's because so many of us on the Left are utterly predictable with our outrage, LOL.
Valdearg: @Gelly: As much as I hate to admit it, it's because so many of us on the Left are utterly predictable with our outrage, LOL.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
gellymatos: Oh, and the boycotting didn't get that much attention to be a real blow to pro-choice advocates either.
gellymatos: Oh, and the boycotting didn't get that much attention to be a real blow to pro-choice advocates either.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:52pm
gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:50pm
gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:47pm
Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:46pm
Valdearg: You are so quick to disqualify the possibility that it was planned. I'm not saying that it necessarily WAS as I describe it, but I certainly believe it a very real possibility.
Valdearg: You are so quick to disqualify the possibility that it was planned. I'm not saying that it necessarily WAS as I describe it, but I certainly believe it a very real possibility.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:42pm
gellymatos: ...that. However, that doesn't strike me as something predictable. Was it a bonus? Yes. Was it planned to be so? No.
gellymatos: ...that. However, that doesn't strike me as something predictable. Was it a bonus? Yes. Was it planned to be so? No.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:41pm
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
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Comments
Hunters are good at spotting things? Stop the freakin' presses...
I think that's the funniest comment I've seen on gamepolitics.
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
What about hunters who also game? I mean, I can stalk a deer for as far as I want, but I can also slaugther zombies in L4D (zomebie genocidist right here). On a related note, hell yeah hunters and tough urban youths.
I wonder if there's any difference between console and PC gamers? The relative distances from the screens probably changes the level of perception.
Also, my peripheral vision is great, because as the resident socially inept kid in elementary school, I constantly had to be aware of potential wedgies and wet-willies from any direction. Even today I get a little jumpy if someone comes up on me between five and seven o'clock. I guess today's modern hip call o' duty gamerz don't have to develop those skills, tho.
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The Mammon Philosophy
I'm going to have to take the sarcastic route as well... Hunters and kids from rough neighborhoods have better peripheral vision and are better at spotting things!? And people who mostly stare straight ahead don't!? NO WAI!
In all honesty, I don't think my own peripheral vision would be as great as it is if it wasn't for years of marching band. If you screwed up there you'd end up being the jerk who steps all over the guy that just passed out from dehydration or the idiot who backs up too far and rams into the person behind you.
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http://www.whatnottodo.tk
Yeah, this article states the obvious, but I have to credit it for being truthful. It's better than making up lies.
I play video games, probably too much (I think that would be obvious), and I also march in a band. I'd agree, it does help out with peripheral vision, and I've even partially learned to spread my eyes apart so that one can follow the drum major while the other can keep track of pretty much everything else. It's kind of necessary, because my director and seniors will bestow upon me the gift of running for every mistake I make. Trust me, after a few 'coming to Jesus' meetings (run laps 'till you see him!), you'd be surprised at how fast evolution can take place!
Uh.... what? So a "hunter" in a Humvee can somehow see things a normal alert person can't see out the Humvee's windows...??? Do they have X-ray vision to see through the Humvee's floor perhaps? What a stupid article.
I would actually put this at an even simplier cause....
In games, most games are designed with some kind of 'wink' on interactable objects. Gamers learn to spot things that matter by clues designers put in for them.
You're missing the main fault in their premise...
Just because someone is a "gamer", doesn't mean they aren't a "hunter". Not to mention there are a lot of other professions that rely on observation skills. Heck, I used to be a Lifeguard and we were trained to spot people in distress out of huge crowds of people, that's pretty far off from being a "hunter". And yes, I am a gamer too.
Now, see, THAT'S research. Observation is beaten down as valid research, but it truly is. Especially when you know so much about those you are researching.
Peripheral vision, when it comes to computer/video games, is really artificial. You have the limits of the screen in front of you. Moving the "Camera" is turning your head. That's not peripheral vision.
Now, supposedly (and I don't have the money or the inclination right now), having 3 or more monitors widens the view. But unless those two side monitors are on either side of your head, technically, you're still looking straight on, unless you're vision limits you to the middle monitor and only portions of the side monitors.
I'm not sure how VR glasses worked for normal vision folks. they were crap for me.
The best environmental equivilant gaming system would be a monitor, from floor to ceiling, a full half circle around the room that you would stand in front of (if you drew a straight line from each end of the monitor and stood at the middle of that line). I really don't see a better system for providing true peripheral vision support from a computer/video game. And you'd probably have to extend the monitor up and down to get those perspectives as well.
Other than that, live simulation training is the only way to train for the real world.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
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LOL!! If you already know how to avoid stepping in all that dog shit while walking in the 'hood, then you're a better candidate than a gamer for avoiding stepping on a IED in Iraq. Sweet.