Quantifying Zoom Fatigue

We all know that video calls take a toll. Now a team of Stanford University scientists is measuring the impact of the multiple face-to-face-but-not-quite conversations that video-call veterans feel every day.

Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab studied more than 3,000 people to devise the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue (ZEF) scale. The method is laid out in this academic paper, published in the Aug.-Dec. 2021 issue of Computers in Human Behavior Reports.

The ZEF scale measures the mental and physical stresses we all suffer from regularly meeting on video — headaches, energy levels, eyestrain, physical pain, and emotional impact. Among the team’s early findings so far: Zoom fatigue is worse for women.

Want to help add data to the study and find out how your Zoom fatigue rates on a scale? Take the survey here.