Weary air traffic controllers might be able to relieve their fatigue by taking short breaks to play video games, according to a study by researchers from the University of South Carolina.1
The conclusion followed a study of 22 male U.S. military air traffic controllers who were accustomed to working a rotating shift schedule in which they switched every week between a daytime shift and a nighttime shift, said a report on the study, published in the June issue of Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance.
The results showed that “video game play could be an effective fatigue countermeasure in high-vigilance occupations such as air traffic control,” the report said. The effects were not necessarily long-lasting, the report added, noting that the alerting effects of the video game breaks persisted for “at least 30 minutes for some measures and longer for others.”
The 22 study participants ranged in age from 22 to 48, with an average age of 34, and all wer…
