Game therapy restores vision in child's eye

Six-year old Ben Michaels suffered from amblyopia (lazy eye) in his right eye since he was four.  What was he asked to do about it?  Play daily rounds of Mario Kart DS.

Ben's weak eye was to the point where he could not identify faces and was on the brink of going blind with it.  By putting a patch over his left eye, Ben's right eye was forced to work harder and playing games encouraged repetitive eye movement to help with focus.  The result was a 250% vision improvement after playing for a week.

So what's really going on here?  A consultant from the hospital Ben visited actually isn't sure if playing games helps kids keep their minds off the eye patch (which is part of the usual therapy) or the eye really is getting stronger.  Either way, it's getting results so similar treatments to kids and adults will be encouraged.