Then. Much. Enlargement.
Sarah Tew / CNET
If you’ve ever felt totally drained after a day at work, although your most strenuous physical activity involved smiling amid seemingly endless video calls, Stanford researchers now have a name for that feeling: “Zoom fatigue”. Although the scientists behind a new study, published on February 23 in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior, are quick to point out that this can happen on any video call platform, they now say they have a better idea of the reason for the user’s fatigue. Zoom.
Researchers say zoom fatigue has four main culprits: excessive and intense eye contact, watching videos of yourself constantly, the limited mobility of being stuck at your desk, and more energy spent identifying social signals that you would otherwise pick up intuitively in person.
The research also suggests strategies to counter the negative physical effects of video calls: shrinking the screen window to minimize the participants’ face size, moving away from your webcam to increase your “personal space bubble”, hiding your video feed from auto-preview, and periodically turn off your camera and then physically move away from the screen so you don’t see others.
The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended for medical or health advice. Always consult a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.