Study Uncovers an Easy Hack to Prevent Zoom Fatigue

Feeling exhausted after a long video call? Your fatigue may be linked to your screen background, a study suggests a hack, recommending nature images. Zoom video calls have become a daily routine for many, especially since the COVID pandemic.

The increased time spent on video calls has led to a new phenomenon called “videoconference fatigue,” which can manifest as physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion.

Several factors that contribute to videoconference fatigue have already been identified, such as rising anxiety from seeing oneself on a screen, double-tasking or just plain old connection problems.

Two researchers in Singapore set out to explore another possible factor—the virtual backgrounds people choose to conceal their real environments.

Self-Perception and Virtual Backgrounds in Video Calls

This is significant because research shows that during video calls, people focus more on themselves than their conversation partners, explained Heng Zhang from Nanyang Technological University. Choosing a background is like picking a “new suit,” added Zhang, co-author of the study in Frontiers in Psychology.

“The virtual background isn’t just decoration; it affects how users view themselves and how others see them.”

In spring 2023, researchers surveyed 610 Zoom users in Singapore. Like other apps, Zoom allows users to blur their backgrounds or replace them with images of offices, cityscapes, forests, or even moving video elements like crashing waves or swaying palm trees.

Participants, aged 22 to 76 and working from home three days a week, tracked their background choices. They then answered questions about how these backgrounds affected their general, visual, social, motivational, and emotional fatigue.

Forest, mountains, or seaside.

The study noted that moving video backgrounds caused the most fatigue by increasing cognitive load. Blurred backgrounds also heightened tiredness, with researchers suggesting they trigger negative emotions, similar to grey backgrounds. Many users also opted for office or public space backgrounds, likely to appear more professional.

Read The Original Article on: Science Alert

Red More: Study Reports a Greater Rate of Fatigue Among Midwives in The USA