A systematic review of the application of interactive virtual reality to sport

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) technology is being increasingly used by athletes, coaches, and other sport-related professionals. The present systematic review aimed to document research on the application of VR to sport to better understand the outcomes that have emerged in this work. Research literature databases were searched and the results screened to identify articles reporting applications of interactive VR to sport with healthy human participants. Twenty articles were identified and coded to document the study aims, research designs, participant characteristics, sport types, VR technology, measures, and key findings. From the review, it was shown that interactive VR applications have enhanced a range of performance, physiological, and psychological outcomes. The specific effects have been influenced by factors related to the athlete and the VR system, which comprises athlete factors, VR environment factors, task factors, and the non-VR environment factors. Important variables include the presence of others in the virtual environment, competitiveness, task autonomy, immersion, attentional focus, and feedback. The majority of research has been conducted on endurance sports, such as running, cycling, and rowing, and more research is required to examine the use of interactive VR in skill-based sports. Additional directions for future research and reporting standards for researchers are suggested.

Effectiveness and efficiency of virtual reality designs to enhance athlete development: an ecological dynamics perspective

“…In sport, increased accessibility and mobility of VR systems has led to a growing interest in their application to develop athlete performance (Cotterill, 2018). However, despite the number of sports organisations investing in VR systems, there is currently limited scientific evidence to inform and underpin its application (Neumann et al, 2018;Düking et al, 2018). Most importantly, it is unclear whether VR systems develop skills and expertise beyond the specific practice context in which it is implemented, and how the effectiveness of VR compares to other methods of learning and training.…”

A Review of Gamification in Virtual Reality (VR) Sport

“…Reference in [9] also pointed out that there are numerous opportunities for fans in the sports industry to discover VR technology material that enables fans to get closer than ever before in the field. However, limited researches have been done to study how modern VR technologies could improve the practice of applied sport psychology [10].…”

Testing the construct validity of a soccer-specific virtual reality simulator using novice, academy, and professional soccer players

“…At the pragmatic level, VR training enables a trainee to engage in learning, practice, or rehearsal that may have otherwise been impractical, for example rehearsing particularly dangerous skills without real risk, or practicing skills while physically distinct from the real performance environment (e.g., learning to fly in a simulator without access to an aeroplane). Virtual reality has intuitive appeal as a training tool and has been implemented in a number of environments including sport (Gray 2019;Neumann et al 2018), surgery (Gurusamy et al 2008), aviation (Vine et al 2015), and rehabilitation (Adamovich et al 2009). However, the use of VR in these environments raises questions about whether the current systems are sufficiently realistic to provide an effective training stimulus.…”

“…Despite the increase in the use of VR within sport science (for reviews see Neumann et al 2018;Michalski et al 2019), little work has been carried out that has examined expertise differences in simulated environments. In a recent study, Harris et al (2019a) examined the construct validity of a VR golf-putting simulator using elite and novice golfers.…”