Avatar has become the fastest film to make $1 billion in ticket sales.Watching 3D films such as Avatar could give some viewers headaches, experts have warned.
Watching 3D films such as Avatar could give some viewers headaches, experts have warned.
The success of James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster, which has already taken more than $1 billion (ā600 million) at the box office, is fuelling a surge in popularity for three-dimensional movies and new 3D television sets.
But prolonged viewing may result in an aching head, according to Dr Michael Rosenberg, an ophthalmologyprofessor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
He said: "There are a lot of people walking around with very minor eye problems, for example a minor muscle imbalance, which under normal circumstances the brain deals with naturally."
Watching a 3D movie confronts viewers with an entirely new sensory experience. "That translates into greater mental effort, making it easier to get a headache," he said.
Dr Deborah Friedman, a professor of ophthalmology and neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, said: "If your eyes are a little off to begin with then it's really throwing a whole degree of effort that your brain now needs to exert. This disparity for some people will give them a headache."
Experts say there are no studies tracking how common it is to get a headache after watching a 3D film.
Rick Heineman, a spokesman for RealD, which provides 3D equipment to cinemas, said headaches and nausea were the main reasons 3D technology never took offbefore.
But he said new digital technology addresses many of the problems that had previously caused sore heads.
專家日前警告說,觀看《阿凡達(dá)》這樣的3D電影會讓人感到頭痛。
詹姆斯 卡梅隆的科幻大片《阿凡達(dá)》目前已創(chuàng)下超過10億美元(6億英鎊)的驚人票房。該片的成功開啟了3D電影和3D電視的新時(shí)代。
但芝加哥西北大學(xué)費(fèi)恩柏格醫(yī)學(xué)院的眼科學(xué)教授邁克爾 羅森堡博士說,長時(shí)間觀看3D電影可能會導(dǎo)致頭痛。
他說:“很多人的眼睛都有點(diǎn)小毛病,比如眼部肌肉輕微不平衡,在正常情況下大腦可以自然應(yīng)對這種問題。”
觀看3D電影會給觀眾帶來一種全新的視覺體驗(yàn)。他說:“這就需要更多的腦力勞動(dòng),容易引起頭痛。”
紐約羅徹斯特大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)中心的眼科學(xué)和神經(jīng)學(xué)教授戴伯拉 弗瑞德曼博士說:“如果你的眼睛本來就有點(diǎn)小問題,那么在觀影時(shí)你的大腦就會相當(dāng)費(fèi)勁。這種失衡會讓有些人感到頭痛。”
專家說,現(xiàn)在尚無研究追蹤調(diào)查人們在看完3D電影后感到頭痛的情形究竟有多普遍。
為影院提供3D設(shè)備的RealD公司的發(fā)言人瑞克 海涅曼說,3D技術(shù)一直未興起的主要原因就是它會讓觀影者感到頭痛和惡心。
但他說,新的數(shù)碼技術(shù)解決了以前導(dǎo)致頭痛的很多問題。
Vocabulary:
blockbuster:something, such as a film or book, that sustains widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales 賣座的大片
ophthalmology:the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of the eye 眼科學(xué)
take off:to achieve wide use or popularity 被廣泛使用,受歡迎(a new movie that took off 一部很受歡迎的新電影)