Technology is in a perpetual state of advancement.  You buy the latest iphone, blackberry or laptop, and six months later—if even that long—it’s obsolete.

The latest example of obsolescence regards the good ol’ boob tube.  High-definition televisions are all the rage nowadays, as you can’t buy a television that’s not at the very least high-definition capable.  It took a while for this happen, but lo and behold, standard definition television sets are a thing of the past.

But before you know it, HD televisions will be an endangered species, replaced by the latest technological innovation, the 3-D TV.

Have you heard about these?  They look just like a high-definition television, only they’re equipped with a special kind of technology that allows you to not just watch, but experience whatever it is you’re viewing.  By simply putting on a pair of 3-D glasses, you can experience the rolling hills and gullies at Augusta National, or reach out and touch the snow that looks like it’s falling on you while you’re watching an animated Christmas classic.

Sounds cool, right?  Well, the future of television is not without it’s drawbacks, as television makers like Samsung are equipping each and every 3-D LED TV with a warning:  What they watch may induce epileptic seizures or stroke at worst and “motion sickness, perceptual after effects, disorientation, eye strain, and decreased postural stability” at best.

These kinds of sensations won’t happen for everybody, but doctors warn that they will happen for some people, especially those who are vulnerable to motion sickness.

In an email to CNN, Dr. Lisa Park of New York University Langone Medical Center said that 3-D movies and television shows cause the eyes to move unnaturally.  That’s because each eye is seeing something different, as the filter in 3-D glasses separates the images being shown on screen.

As the doctor explains it, when things or objects actually move toward us in real life, the eyes communicate by moving toward each other so that the object remains in focus.  But when things only appear to be moving toward us, it confuses the brain and the eyes, leaving us with that feeling of motion sickness.

ESPN and some other yet-to-be-named networks plan on offering 3-D programming some time next year.  Eye experts believe the overwhelming majority of viewers won’t experience any symptoms of vertigo, but they suspect that as many as 20 percent will.

For this and other reasons, you can count me as one person who won’t be buying a 3-D television any time soon.  Any time at all, in fact.  Technology is great and entertainment is an important part to any balanced life, but the line has to be drawn somewhere.  HD televisions are so clear and sharp, that it’s almost better to watch a baseball game from home than it is to actually be there in person.  Why bother tinkering with something that already works?  As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Besides, aren’t we watching enough television as it is (The Nielsen Company says the average American watches 151 hours of TV per month)?  Obesity is an epidemic in this country, and that’s largely due to people’s sedentary lifestyle.  Innovations like these make desk-bound, couch potato lifestyles just that much more appealing.

Thus, you can count me out on ever buying in to the 3-D television revolution.  Join me, won’t you?

Sources
cnn.com
articles.latimes.com