Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of a real or imaginary three-dimensional environment that has entered our lives, particularly for gaming. Lately, it has been permeating into many aspects of our everyday life, such as exercise. It is important to ascertain whether exercise in an immersive virtual reality environment can be accepted from employees and lead to positive outcomes for them. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine the acceptance, future adoption, interest/enjoyment and usability of an immersive virtual reality system for exercise training by office workers during breaks within their working hours. A total of 40 female employees participated in the study with a mean age of 42.58 years (SD 10.77). Participants were requested to complete two sequential 15-min dual task cycling sessions corresponding to two experimental conditions. The first, condition A, involved cycling in a virtual environment, wearing a virtual reality head mounted display, and responding to cognitive tasks by answering multiple choice questions—on a screen, using a joystick. The second, condition B, involved cycling on a static bicycle and simultaneously responding to cognitive tasks by answering multiple choice questions in a real environment. After completion of the two conditions, participants responded to a series of scales regarding each of the experimental conditions and to a semi-structured interview. The results showed that participants noted a significant preference for the immersive virtual reality exercise, condition A, compared to condition B (bike only); and their acceptance, interest/enjoyment, usability and intention for future use were high. The qualitative data showed increased intention for future use, feelings of control and presence and most of the participants did not encounter any difficulties or require extra help to understand the immersive virtual reality system. Overall, exercising during working hours with an immersive virtual reality exercise system was well perceived by office workers and applicable. However, the effects of the immersive virtual reality training system on physical and mental health and the employees’ adherence to the exercise program should be tested with a longer intervention program.

Long-post-coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients tend to claim residual symptomatology from various systems, most importantly the respiratory and central nervous systems. Breathlessness and brain fog are the main complaints. The pulmonary function pattern is consistent with restrictive defects, which, in most cases, are self-resolved, while the cognitive profile may be impaired. Rehabilitation is an ongoing field for holistic management of long-post-COVID-19 patients. Virtual reality (VR) applications may represent an innovative implementation of rehabilitation. We aimed to investigate the effect of exercise with and without the VR system and to assess further breathlessness and functional fitness indicators in long-post-COVID-19 patients with mild cognitive impairment after self-selected exercise duration using the VR system. Twenty long-post-COVID-19 patients were enrolled in our study (age: 53.9 ± 9.1 years, male: 80%, body mass index: 28.1 ± 3.1 kg/m2). Participants' anthropometric data were recorded, and they underwent pulmonary functional test evaluation as well as sleep quality and cognitive assessment. The participants randomly exercised with and without a VR system (VR vs. no-VR) and, later, self-selected the exercise duration using the VR system. The results showed that exercise with VR resulted in a lower dyspnea score than exercise without VR. In conclusion, VR applications seem to be an attractive and safe tool for implementing rehabilitation. They can enhance performance during exercise and benefit patients with both respiratory and cognitive symptoms.

Purpose: Many diabetic patients experience depression/anxiety and poor Quality of Life (QoL). Daily life Physical Activity (PA) is linked to improved depression/anxiety and QoL across various patients, but relevant studies in diabetic patients are scarce. This preliminary study examined if daily life PA is linked to better depression/anxiety and QoL in patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). Methods: A total of 51 adult T2D outpatients (Mean age = 63.31 years; Standard Deviation = 13.88) completed questionnaires for PA, QoL and depression/anxiety. Descriptive and correlation statistics were computed for all variables of interest. Hierarchical regression analysis examined if days of PA at light, moderate or vigorous intensity predict improved depression/anxiety and QoL. Results: The sample was insufficiently active; also, 32% showed poor QoL, and 22% and 30%, respectively, had at least moderate depression or anxiety symptoms. Days of PA at light and moderate but not at vigorous intensity demonstrated small-to-moderate inverse correlations with improved depression/anxiety and QoL. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that, after controlling for age and body mass index, days of PA at light and moderate intensities predicted lower depression and explained 39% of the variance, whereas only days of PA at light intensity predicted lower anxiety and better QoL, explaining, respectively, 30% and 40% of the variance. Discussion: This preliminary study for adults with T2D found that days of light and moderate intensity PA were linked to improved depression, but days of only light intensity PA were linked to improved anxiety and QoL.