看《阿凡達》會感到頭痛?
Watching 3D films such as Avatar could give some viewers headaches, experts have warned.
The success of James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster, which has already taken more than $1 billion (£600 million) at the box office, is fuelling a surge in popularity for three-dimensional movies and new 3D television sets.
But prolonged viewing may result in an aching head, according to Dr Michael Rosenberg, an ophthalmology professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
He said: "There are a lot of people walking around with very minor eye problems, for example a minor muscle imbalance, which under normal circumstances the brain deals with naturally."
Watching a 3D movie confronts viewers with an entirely new sensory experience. "That translates into greater mental effort, making it easier to get a headache," he said.
Dr Deborah Friedman, a professor of ophthalmology and neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, said: "If your eyes are a little off to begin with then it's really throwing a whole degree of effort that your brain now needs to exert. This disparity for some people will give them a headache."
Experts say there are no studies tracking how common it is to get a headache after watching a 3D film.
Rick Heineman, a spokesman for RealD, which provides 3D equipment to cinemas, said headaches and nausea were the main reasons 3D technology never took off before.
But he said new digital technology addresses many of the problems that had previously caused sore heads.
專家日前警告說，觀看《阿凡達》這樣的3D電影會讓人感到頭痛。
詹姆斯•卡梅隆的科幻大片《阿凡達》目前已創下超過10億美元（6億英鎊）的驚人票房。該片的成功開啓了3D電影和3D電視的新時代。
但芝加哥西北大學費恩柏格醫學院的眼科學教授邁克爾•羅森堡博士說，長時間觀看3D電影可能會導致頭痛。
他說：“很多人的眼睛都有點小毛病，比如眼部肌肉輕微不平衡，在正常情況下大腦可以自然應對這種問題。”
觀看3D電影會給觀衆帶來一種全新的視覺體驗。他說：“這就需要更多的腦力勞動，容易引起頭痛。”
紐約羅徹斯特大學醫學中心的眼科學和神經學教授戴伯拉•弗瑞德曼博士說：“如果你的眼睛本來就有點小問題，那麼在觀影時你的大腦就會相當費勁。這種失衡會讓有些人感到頭痛。”
專家說，現在尚無研究追蹤調查人們在看完3D電影后感到頭痛的情形究竟有多普遍。
爲影院提供3D設備的RealD公司的發言人瑞克•海涅曼說，3D技術一直未興起的主要原因就是它會讓觀影者感到頭痛和噁心。
但他說，新的數碼技術解決了以前導致頭痛的很多問題。
Vocabulary:
blockbuster: something, such as a film or book, that sustains widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales 賣座的大片
ophthalmology: the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of the eye 眼科學
take off: to achieve wide use or popularity 被廣泛使用，受歡迎（a new movie that took off 一部很受歡迎的新電影）
