Proceeding
Supplementary Issue: Autumn Conferences of Sports Science. Costa Blanca Sports Science Events, 18-19 December 2020. Alicante, Spain.

Effects of gaming glasses on the autonomic
nervous system while playing e-Sports
YOSHIKO SAITO1,4, HIROHISA ISOGAI2,4, DAI TAKAHASHI3,4

1Department of Sport Science, Behavior Assessment Systems Laboratory, Fukuoka, Japan
2Department of Sport Science and Health, Faculty of Human Science, Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka,

Japan
3Consumer Sales Sec, NIDEK Co., Ltd., Aichi, Japan
4Fukuoka e-Sports Research Consortium, Fukuoka, JapanABSTRACT[Purpose]Eyestrain associated with playing e-Sports has been identified as a problem. Several types ofglasses for use during play have been developed to address this, but the studies to prove their efficacy arescarce. This research aims to examine what influence the wearing of gaming glasses has on the autonomic
nervous system when playing e-sports. [Method] 60 students were divided into 3 groups, with two of theseusing gaming glasses and one group using demonstration lenses. Each group got Standard Deviation ofNormal to Normal (SDNN), Physiological Stress Index (PSI), Total Power (LF/HF/VLF), Sympathetic Nerve
Activity (LnLF), Parasympathetic activity (LnHF), as well as Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Balance (Ln(LF/HF)) Autonomic Nervous System measurements (6 in total) before and after playing one videogame forthree hours. [Results and remarks] Blue and Gray lenses were compared against demonstration lenses withthe results of the SDNN, showing a higher and healthier heartbeat variability, stronger resistance to stressand improved concentration after playing. Furthermore, the results of the Ln (LF/HF) showed the use bluelenses remarkably improved Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Balance, both working actively and in goodform. These results suggest the wearing of gaming glasses during play have a real effect on players.
Keywords: e-Sports; Autonomic nervous system; Eyes; Gaming glasses.
Cite this article as:
Saito, Y., Isogai, H., & Takahashi, D. (2021). Effects of gaming glasses on the autonomic nervous system
while playing e-Sports. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 16(2proc), S678-S687.
doi:https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2021.16.Proc2.53
1Corresponding author. Department of Sport Science, Behavior Assessment Systems Laboratory, Fukuoka, Japan.
E-mail: saitou@baslab.or.jp
Abstract submitted to: Autumn Conferences of Sports Science. Costa Blanca Sports Science Events, 18-19 December 2020.
Alicante, Spain.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN SPORT & EXERCISE ISSN 1988-5202© Faculty of Education. University of Alicantedoi:10.14198/jhse.2021.16.Proc2.53

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JOURNAL OF HUMAN SPORT & EXERCISEINTRODUCTION
e-sports is an abbreviation of “Electronic Sports”, a term used broadly to refer to some forms of entertainment,competitions and sports done through the use of electronic devices, and particularly to when PC and console
videogames are played as a form of sports competition. These e-sports have expanded around the world inrecent years at a very fast pace. Especially, since the development of professional e-sports leagues, it has
shown a remarkable ability to attract viewers as a spectator sport, raising its profitability and securing animportant position in the sports industry (Wagner, 2006).
On the other hand, scientific research related to e-sports has been insufficient. Particularly, studies related
to e-sports and health hazards associated with the playing of videogames, as well as the development andassessment of preventive measures are not seemed to receive the required attention (Keyi et al., 2020). It
can then be said that research pertaining the health of players is in need. For example, it has been reported
that in order to become a professional e-sports player for a team in the Netherlands, they need to spendsome 50 hours every week, with teams in South Korea requiring 12 to 14 hours of daily training (Jacobs, H.
2015; Sky and Jenifer, 2016). It is thought players suffer from eyestrain as they need to keep looking atscreen displays for long periods of time.
Until now, eye fatigue has been studied in environments where eye-straining activities are common, such as
when using computers at work or when looking at phone screens for extended periods of time, with several
terms such as VDT Syndrome (Computer Vision Syndrome) or Technostress used to describe symptoms
caused by the use of video screens of IT devices (Takahashi, 2005). Furthermore, with the pervasiveness ofvideo screens another term known as digital eye strain has been pointed out (Ioanna et al., 2020). Anotherterm for this is Computer vision syndrome (Mark, 2016). Is has been noted that one of the main causes forthese problems comes from the blue light emanating from electronic devices.
Within the range of visible light and of a small wavelength there is what is known as blue light, which ranges
from 380 to 500 nanometres and is the type found in LED displays used in computers and smartphones.
Overexposure to this light is known to have several bad effects on the eyes (Ozawa and Ide, 2015). Bluelight scatters easily due to its short wavelength, causing flickering and glare and making it difficult for thebrain to adjust eyesight properly. Also, since blue light uses more energy than other types of light, it strains
the muscles around the eyes as they try to contract repeatedly. This effect is also one of the causes ofeyestrain, retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, dry eyes and the like. Besides the damageto the eyes mentioned before, there are other known effects such as sleep disorders, obesity, cancer andmental condition due to the confusion of the circadian rhythm (Wada, 2018; Blue Light Society, 2016).
In order to avoid the effects of blue light, measures such as limiting the time spent in front of the display,adjusting the brightness and contrast, as well as the use of filters or glasses that cut blue light, etc. havebeen proposed (Blue Light Society, 2016). Since reducing time in front of a screen causes difficulty for esports players who need to train for long hours, they wore blue-light cutting glasses for the purpose of thisstudy.
More specifically, we decided to study the effects on the autonomic nerve system when using gaming glasses
developed by G-SQUARE for use in e-sports. G-SQUARE applied multiple coatings and original colouring
technologies on the lenses to cut 30 to 40% of blue light. Also, not only cutting blue light, but also by applying
a glare-reducing coating, they were able to reduce the burden on the eyes caused by long hours of gameplay. Moreover, since this coating also suppresses the flickering caused the reflection of light commonly
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found in common blue-light blocking glasses, players were able to focus more on their game. It was for thereasons above mentioned that we decided to use G-SQUARE’s glasses.
Even though we studied the reactions of the autonomic nerve system to the use of gaming glasses, perceiving
these is actually a difficult subject, since it is continuously working to keep normal mind and body functions,with both sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves automatically reacting to both internal and external stimuli
in order to adjust the functions of internal organs and keep their balance. There are also cases where theCentral autonomic nerves in the brain and spinal cord can cause autonomic ataxia (unbalance) due to several
types of stress or fatigue (Nishida et al., 2012). It this therefore that by looking at the reactions between thesympathetic and parasympathetic nerves of the autonomic system that we can assess the effects on thebrain and the body (Motoyama et al.,2017).
From the above, we decided to set out as our purpose to study the effects of the use of gaming glasses on
the autonomic nervous system while playing e-sports.
METHODS
Duration of the study
We carried out this study on six occasions during an e-sports class at a vocational school from August 17 thto September 16th of 2020.
Study subjects
60 students aiming to become programmers at the department of e-sports at a vocational school. Theiraverage age was 19.1 years old, 59 of them male and 1 female.
As for the numbers of subjects with eyesight correction, 28 people wore glasses, 9 wore contact lenses and23 people didn’t need any. The average sleeping time was 6 hours and 58 minutes, with daily videogame
playtime between 6 to 9 hours being the most common with 35 people, followed by 15 people playing between
3 to 5 hours and 8 people between 10 to 12 hours. (Figure 1).
The study was carried out after thoroughly explaining the subjects about the dangers related with the content
and measurements, obtaining their verbal consent and taking the necessary precautions.

12 hours or more
10-12 hours
6-9 hours
3-5 hours
Within 3 hours
Game time of the day
010203040Figure 1. Daily play time average.
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Gaming glasses used
Gaming glasses from G-SQUARE Lenses (NIDEK Co., Ltd) were used. Unlike common work in front of aPC, the amount of light emitted from screens used in the gaming scene is quite higher, becoming one of thecauses of eyestrain. G-SQUARE Lenses were developed to reduce the burden on the eyes caused by longhours of playing videogames. Multiple coatings and original colouring technologies were applied on theselenses in order to cut 30 to 40% of blue light, also limiting the amount of flicker caused by light reflection.
Glare-reducing coating (hexagonal coating called “Lequa-Mesh”) is also used. Though coloured lenses
optimized for each genre were provided, only gray lenses for FPS games and blue lenses for overall gaming
were used for the purposed of this study. Since the number of glass-wearing players was high, fit over glasses
were also used (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Fit-over frames that can be used with normal glasses.
Used videogames: FPS
The type of videogames used for this study are known as FPS (First-person shooter) games (Rainbow Six
Siege, Overwatch, League of Legends, PUPG, etc.) FPS is a type of shooting videogame played from thepoint of view of the character itself (first-person). The characters can move around the game’s world/space,using weapons and sometimes bare-hands to battle against other opponents.
Autonomic Nerve System MeasurementsWe used a device called TAS9 in order to carry out the measurements of the autonomic nerve system. TAS9is a medical device that uses pulse waves to capture changes in the capacity of peripheral blood vessels,
extracting the pulsations from the intervals of the pulse wave’s heights, then using this data to analyse thebalance of the autonomic nerve system.
We used TAS9 to measure 1) Standard Deviation of Normal to Normal (SDNN), 2) Physiological stress index(PSI), 3) Total Power (LF/HF/VLF), 4) Symphatetic Nerve Activity (LnLF), 5) Parasymphatetic Nerve Activity(LnHF), and 6) Symphatetic and Parasymphatetic Nerve Balance (Ln(LF/HF)).
Experiment Procedure
The experiment was carried out during e-sports classes, with the approval of the teacher in charge and withthe cooperation of related teaching staff. The distribution and positioning of lighting and game consoles was
the same in all cases. The 60 subjects were divided into 3 groups according to the type of lenses used. 21people were in the gray-lenses group, 21 in the blue-lenses and 18 people in the control group who wore
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demonstration lenses. All subjects participated in the groups during the six sessions. The procedures foreach experiment were the same as mentioned below (Figure 4).

Figure 3. TAS9 System.
1) All subjects received an explanation about the contents of the experiment and their consent was requested
2) Autonomic Nerve System values were measured using TAS9 during 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 3) 3 hoursof e-sports play wearing each different type of glasses, 4) Autonomic Nerve System values were measured
using TAS9 during 2 minutes and 30 seconds, 5) Collecting of impressions about the feelings when wearing
each glass, 6) End of the experiment session.

Pre-measurement (TAS9: 2min30sec)
FPS Game (3-hour play)
Post-measurement (TAS9: 2min30sec)
Figure 4. Measurement procedure.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In order to evaluate Autonomic Nervous System functions, we used TAS9 to perform the following 6 datameasurements, before and after e-sports gaming sessions: 1) Standard Deviation of Normal to Normal(SDNN), 2) Physiological stress index (PSI), 3) 3) Total Power (LF/HF/VLF), 4) Sympathetic Nerve Activity(LnLF), 5) Parasympathetic Nerve Activity (LnHF), and 6) Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nerve Balance(Ln(LF/HF). For each measured value, we performed variance analysis for each type of lenses (gray, blue,demonstration) before and after each gaming session. The results are as follows:

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Standard Deviation of Normal to Normal (SDNN)
It shows heart-rate fluctuations. Higher fluctuation values indicate a healthier condition, and an increase infatigue causes a drop in fluctuations and lower values shown.
Compared with the small -.18 change when using demonstration lenses, gray lenses showed a 5.19 rise,and blue lenses a 5.05 rise in values (p < .10), indicating a good health condition after play (Figure 5).

SDNN
58,10

60,00
55,00

50,00

53,98

53,05

51,82 51,64

blue lensdemo lens

48,79

45,00
40,00
gray lens

prepostFigure 5. Pre/Post play SDNN compared values for each 3 groups.
Physiological stress index (PSI)
PSI shows the conditions of accumulated physical fatigue. No significant differences were observed, withdemonstration lenses showing a small .11 increase, while gray lenses showed -.22 and blue lenses -.05
decreases (Figure 6).

PSI
5,20
5,10
5,00
4,90
4,80
4,70
4,60

5,12
4,90

gray lens

4,87 4,82

blue lenspre4,91
4,80

demo lenspost

Figure 6. Pre/Post play PSI compared values for each 3 groups.
Total Power (LnTP)
Total Power indicate greater tolerance levels to higher levels of stress. Demonstration lenses showed a -.16
decrease, against a significant .24 increase trend (p < .10) with gray lenses and .09 with blue lenses,
indicating greater tolerance to stress after gaming sessions (Figure 7).
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LnTP
7,17
7,20

7,10

7,10
7,00

7,08

7,016,92

6,93

6,90
6,80
6,70
gray lensblue lenspredemo lenspostFigure 7. Pre/Post play LnTP compared values for each 3 groups.
Sympathetic Nerve Activity (LnLF)
The autonomic nerve system is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, with both controllingthe homeostasis of each of the body’s organs. Sympathetic nerves are more active during situations ofexcitement, concentration and stress. While demonstration lenses showed a -.32 decrease in values, graylenses showed a .29 increase and blue lenses .19, indicating that while values increased with a higher
excitement after playing, the difference was not significant (Figure 8).

LnLF
6,40

6,23

6,15

6,20
6,00

6,00
5,86

5,81

gray lensblue lens

5,91

5,80
5,60

predemo lenspost

Figure 8. Pre/Post play LnLF compared values for each 3 groups.
Parasympathetic Nerve Activity (LnHF)
Parasympathetic nerves are more active during times of relax and rest. Demonstration lenses showed a -.14
decrease, with blue lenses showing a -.28 decrease in values. On the other hand, gray lenses presented asignificant .22 increase in value (p < .05), clearly indicating greater relaxation levels after play (Figure 9).
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nerve Balance (Ln(LF/HF))
Higher activity values indicate better balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. Blue lenses
showed a significant .10 increase (p < .05), while gray lenses showed a small .03 increase, and demonstrationlenses a -.03 reduction (Figure 10).
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LnHF
5,68

5,80
5,60
5,40

5,53

5,54
5,40

5,32

5…

5,205,00
gray lensblue lenspredemo lenspost

Figure 9. Pre/Post play LnHF compared values for each 3 groups.

Ln(LF/HF)
1,20

1,14

1,17

1,15

1,14

1,15
1,10

1,…

1,05

1,05
1,00
0,95
gray lensblue lenspredemo lenspost

Figure 10. Pre/Post play Ln(LF/HF) compared values for each 3 groups.
When considering the 6 measurement results related to autonomic nerve system in a comprehensive manner,
it can be said that when comparing the use of G-SQUARE’s blue and gray lenses that cut 30 to 40% of blue
light with the use of demonstration glasses, there was a larger heart-rate fluctuation after playing, indicativeof a healthier condition, as well as improved resistance to stress and higher concentration. Blue lenses also
demonstrated a prominently better balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves after playing,a clear indication of mind and body in good condition with both nerves working actively (Nishida et al., 2012).
As stated above, compared with the use of demonstration lenses, blue and gray lenses showed better results
regarding fatigue and autonomic nerve system performance, suggesting the effectiveness of wearing blue
light-cutting glasses such as those from G-SQUARE while playing e-sports. Due to the time limitations duringexperiments for this study, we consider necessary to carry out further testing under longer-hour playconditions and for extended periods of time in order to analyse the effectiveness of gaming-glass use. Healthhazards derived from playing e-sports, as well as their preventive measures are subjects that have alreadybeen pointed out (Keyi et al., 2020). We therefore consider necessary to carry out more research related toeye-fatigue and e-sports in the future.
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CONCLUSIONSIn order to investigate how to prevent eye-fatigue related to e-sports, we decided to set out as our objective
to carry out the present study on the use of gaming glasses when playing e-sports and their effects on theautonomic nerve system. With 60 students from the e-sports course at a vocational school as subjects, weassigned them 3 kinds of glasses, 2 of these being gaming glasses (gray lenses and blue lenses), as well as
demonstration lenses. The subjects were then asked to play FPS videogames for 3 hours, measuring 6 items
related to autonomic nerve system functions before and after each play session. Many of thesemeasurements indicated a good influence on mind and body conditions after playing when gaming glasseswere used. This suggests the effectiveness of wearing gaming glasses when playing e-sports.
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