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Howard G. Smith, M.D. is a former radio medical editor and talk show host in the Boston Metro area. His "Medical Minute" of health and wellness news and commentary was a regular weekday feature on WBZ-AM, WRKO-AM, and WMRE-AM. His popular two-way talk show, Dr. Howard Smith OnCall, was regularly heard Sunday morning and middays on WBZ.

Dr. Smith has adopted audio and video podcasting as conduits for HEALTH NEWS YOU SHOULD USE. Based on the latest medical, health, and wellness literature these reports provide practical information you can use to keep yourself and your family healthy. Many reports have video versions, and Dr. Smith’s YouTube Channel may be found at: http://bit.ly/2rNw6XQ

Trained at Harvard Medical School and a long-time faculty member at Boston Children’s Hospital, he practiced Pediatric Otolaryngology for 40 years in Boston, Southern California, and in central Connecticut.  He is now based in New York City.

If you have questions or suggestions about this content, please email the doctor at drhowardsmith.reports@gmail.com or leave him a message at 516-778-8864.  His website is: www.drhowardsmith.com.

Please note that the news, views, commentary, and opinions that Dr. Smith provides are for informational purposes only. Any changes that you or members of your family contemplate making to lifestyle, diet, medications, or medical therapy should always be discussed beforehand with personal physicians who have been supervising your care.

Jan 14, 2020

 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/vwVsXQfh5-0

 

Virtual gaming can provoke damaging shoulder fatigue, neck inflammation, and eye strain.  Oregon State University industrial engineers studied 20 male and female GenZ and millennial gamers for repetitive-type injuries as they pointed and painted in VR.

 

The gamers extended hands led to shoulder discomfort after only 3 minutes as well as later eye strain.  The Oculus Rift headset’s weight sparked annoying cervical spine distress..

 

The engineers recommend manipulating virtual objects close to your body and keeping visuals at eye level to the extent possible.  Lighter headsets will eventually help.

 

VR is expanding into healthcare, military, and training environments of all sorts.  Heed these pointers to protect yourself from weird ergonomic injuries.

 

Sai Akhil Penumudi, Veera Aneesh Kuppam, Jeong Ho Kim, Jaejin Hwang. The effects of target location on musculoskeletal load, task performance, and subjective discomfort during virtual reality interactions. Applied Ergonomics, 2020; 84: 103010 DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2019.103010

 

#vr #virtualreality #repetitiveinjury #shoulderfatigue #eyestrain #cervicalarthritis