Read-the-game: System for skill-based visual exploratory activity assessment with a full body virtual reality soccer simulation

Abstract

We present a novel virtual reality (VR) system to measure soccer players' read-the-game ability. Read-the-game is a term that encompasses a conglomerate of visual exploratory behavioral patterns and cognitive elements required to make accurate in-game decisions. Our technological approach in the Sports Science domain focuses on the visuomotor component of targeted skill development in a VR simulation because VR is a powerful perception-action coupling training solution for visuomotor coordination due to its high sense of immersion and its psychological byproduct presence. Additionally, we analyze two critical aspects: psychological (i.e., sense of presence) and the human-computer interaction (HCI) domain (i.e., suitable input device for full-body immersion). To measure head movements related to visual explorations, the system tracks the user's head excursions. Specifically, the engaged visual exploratory activity (VEA) during a VR simulation is measured frame-byframe at runtime to study the behavior of players making passing decisions while experiencing pressure from rivals during in-game situations recreated with computer graphics (CG). Additionally, the sense of presence elicited by our system is measured via the Igroup Presence Questionnaire applied to beginner and amateur soccer players (n = 24). Regarding the HCI aspect, a comparison of input options reveals that a high presence can be achieved when using full body interactions that integrate head and body motions via a combination of an HMD and kinetic body tracking. During our system verification, a difference in the VEA performance is observed between beginner and amateur players. Moreover, we demonstrate the capacity of the system to measure the VEA while evoking immersive soccer inmatch experiences with a portable VR setup.

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“…This result is in agreement with Jordet's [14] study of three elite midfielders, which found that so few scans lasted in excess of one second, referred to as long searches, that the results became inconsequential. In comparison, a recent study on scanning behavior in football using VR simulations focused on scans that lasted longer than one second, which the authors referred to as long exploratory activity [34]. While VR has the potential to create realistic simulations, our results show that scanning usually lasts much less than one second.…”

Virtual immersive sensorimotor training (VIST) in collegiate soccer athletes: A quasi-experimental study

“…It should be noted that this IVR exercise required the participants to complete smooth pursuit eye movements, in response to an object moving in the 3-dimensional visual field, while coordinating the movement of their head/neck and activating a manual controller. An exercise such as this may encourage the use and development of visual exploratory activity (VEA) during the performance of soccer, which is an important ability for on-field success [ 9 ]. This may be an exercise to consider continuation of training across an athletic season to boost performance.…”

“…A burgeoning area of innovation in sports is the use of three-dimensional extended realities (XR) to provide athletes with novel training environments [ 9 , 10 ]. XR includes immersive virtual reality (IVR), where a user is only able to see and interact with a virtual environment, and augmented reality (AR), where the virtual environment is overlaid upon the real-world environment, and the user can see and interact with both.…”

Assessing Visual Exploratory Activity of Athletes in Virtual Reality Using Head Motion Characteristics

“…Experts also showed quicker anticipation and decision-making processes. Most recent research conducted by Ferrer et al examined the read-the-game skills of soccer players in VR [ 27 , 54 ]. According to the authors this ability encompasses VEA, necessary for accurate in-game decision-making [ 55 ].…”

“…Even though it could be shown that inertial sensors can be used for assessing athletes exploratory behavior in different sport situations [ 24 , 25 ], little research has been conducted using HMD integrated sensors to derive performance measures [ 27 , 28 ]. Specifically, to the best of our knowledge, no work investigates the assessment of VEA based on head movement characteristics under the condition of realistic dynamic VR-based soccer scenarios.…”