The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has advised that children under the age of six be denied access to 3D content. Young people under 13 should have ‘moderate’ access. ANSES’ recommendations are based on analysis of scientific research into the possible effects of 3D imaging on the developing eye. “In children, and particularly before the age of six, the health effects of this vergence-accommodation conflict could be much more severe given the active development of the visual system at this time”.
Definition:
Vergence-accommodation conflict is the term given to the process the eyes undergo when viewing 3D content on a flat screen; a viewer’s eyes are required to look at images in two different places at the same time, creating a conflict between vergence (the simultaneous movement of both eyes to opposite directions to obtain or maintain single binocular vision) and accommodation (the process by which the eye changes its image power to maintain focus on an object as its distance varies).
