Is ‘Zoom fatigue’ a real thing?

In 2020 when COVID-19 struck and we all had to conduct our lives virtually, we joked about how surprisingly exhausting it was. There was even an unofficial official name for it: Zoom fatigue. Now, a new study published in Scientific Reports presents the first evidence that Zoom fatigue is an actual physiological phenomenon.

In the study, the researchers measured electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) before and after an in-person 50-minute lecture and a virtual one. They also looked at the participants’ electrocardiography (ECG) data to track heart rate variability. The results found that the participants consistently showed higher rates of fatigue across all data points during the virtual lecture than the in-person one.

“Our results suggest that use of video conferencing may lead to cognitive costs, which must not be ignored by individuals and organizations,” the researchers state in the study. “However, as it is unrealistic to recommend completely abstaining from the use of video-conferencing tools, the future study of effective countermeasures to reduce the fatigue and stress potential of video conferencing will be critical for sustaining human well-being and health in an increasingly digital world.”