INTERVIEW
|
|
|
Born in Shizuoka, Japan, Dr Hisao Ishigaki is a professor of the Faculty of Management and Information Sciences at the Aichi Institute of Technology.
After graduating from the Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University), he was a research student in the medical department of Nagoya University from 1986 until he received his medical doctorate there in 1994.
Dr. Ishigaki is a leading specialist in the field of “Visual Training”, which is used regularly by different groups of individuals, including professional athletes.
The following is a translation of an interview that was conducted between the editorial staff of Nintendo of Japan's Nintendo Online Magazine and Dr Hisao Ishigaki.
|
| |
We ask Dr Ishigaki about "Focus Ability"
What is this new term "Focus Ability", and what effects does training it have? We asked the supervisor of the game, Dr Ishigaki of the Aichi Institute of Technology.
Nintendo Online Magazine: Dr Ishigaki, please tell us about the kind of research you've been doing.
Ishigaki: "I study what is called 'Sports Vision'* at the university. Also called 'Sports Optometry', it's a field of study that researches the relationship between development in sports and 'Focus Ability'. One area of Sports Vision is the training of one's visual abilities, 'Visual Training'. Sight Training is a game that allows you to practise Visual Training using a DS."
*Sports Vision first emerged in the United States in 1978, when the American Optometric Association (a research body related to the study of the eye) founded a "Sports Vision Section" within the organisation. In 1988, the Sports Vision Research Society was founded in Japan with the same purpose.
NOM: What is this Focus Ability you've been telling us about? Is it something different from the generally well-known term "eyesight"?
Ishigaki: "I'm sure everyone has taken eye examinations during medical exams and the like in the past, but the ability those tests measure is much like the focus of a camera. In other words, it's a test to see how well you can focus accurately. The numbers used to represent how well you can focus, such as 1.0 or 0.7, are what is called 'visual acuity'. Eyesight is, in fact, the ability to discern small, stationary objects.
"However, you use many kinds of visual abilities in daily life. Identifying several objects in a wide range of vision at once, correctly recognising moving objects and so on make up your ability to see. In other words, you could say your visual ability is the accuracy and agility of your eyes. In this game we call your visual ability 'Focus Ability', and aim to improve it through training."
|
| |
NOM: Could you tell us a bit more about Focus Ability?
Ishigaki:
"When you use your eyes, many types of visual ability work at once.
However, if you were to further divide them into five particular
ability groups, they would appear as below. I'll explain them, along
with the effects in daily life that you can expect from training your
visual ability.
• Dynamic Visual Acuity
"The
ability to clearly see moving objects. It's an ability that greatly
differs between individuals, and is related to things such as the
ability to predict the speed and direction of a moving object and
follow it with your eyes, and to make instant judgements with this
information. Accurate play in sports like baseball, tennis and table
tennis is a sign of good Dynamic Visual Acuity.
• Momentary Vision
"The
ability to process a lot of information at once. To take in all this
information at once requires concentration, but rather than
concentrating on a single object, accurately spreading your attention
over a wide area is what is important here. This ability comes into
play at times such as when you open a newspaper and instantly take in
the rough details, for example.
• Eye Movement
"The
ability to swiftly move your eyes. Eye Movement is trained by moving
the eyes quickly, or in large, dynamic movements, and is useful for
Dynamic Visual Acuity and Peripheral Vision. For example, using a
computer causes intensive Eye Movement, but if you train your Eye
Movement it will help make your eyes tire less easily.
• Peripheral Vision
"The
ability to see objects in a wide range. When you focus on an object,
your field of vision instantly narrows, but through training you can
become able to still see objects in a wide range even while focusing on
something. By broadening your Peripheral Vision, you could pay
attention to your surroundings more easily while driving a car, and
this could help you drive safely.
• Hand-Eye Co-ordination
"The
ability to process information quickly and respond accurately with your
hands. It's similar to the body's widely-used reflexes, but one could
say it is more advanced than that because it is a response made while
processing complex visual information. You could expect that making
your responses faster and more accurate may lead to an improvement in
sports ability.
"However, as I stated previously, several
kinds of the above visual abilities work at once when you use your
eyes. Rather than focusing on individual elements, the most important
thing is to train all your visual abilities. The comparison is often
made, but your visual ability is just like your body’s strength. I
think when you're asked 'are you strong?' what you're being asked about
is your body's overall strength. However, within that you have elements
such as stamina and muscle strength, and flexibility is important as
well. I think what we call 'strength' is a combination of all these
things. I'd like you to think of your general visual ability, Focus
Ability, as 'eye strength'".
|
| |
NOM: In what ways can you develop Focus Ability through training?
Ishigaki: "Rather
than training the muscles that move your eyes (the ocular muscles),
instead think of it as training your brain, which controls these
muscles. It's like improving the precision and processing speed of
computer software, so to speak. Incidentally, you probably know that
people’s eyes tend to 'glaze over' as a result of drinking alcohol. It
gets harder to adjust the line of sight, to move the eyes. This is
caused by the alcohol temporarily numbing the brain."
NOM: Is Focus Ability something that you normally train in your normal, day-to-day life?
Ishigaki: "I
don't think it is something you can develop to high levels in the
average lifestyle. Normally, as you develop and age, your abilities
diminish. You can correct your eyesight with glasses, but that won't
work for Focus Ability. However, you can train your Focus Ability by
stimulating it. Unlike eyesight, which is hard to recover once it
diminishes without resorting to corrective measures, I think anyone
could improve their visual abilities through Focus Ability's
trainability. Though the effects will differ depending on age, it
should be beneficial to people of any age."
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Software Benefit
> Relaxation > Exercise > Focus |
|
