The physiological and perceptual responses to cycling exercise in a fully-immersive virtual environment
Authors
Williams, ThomasAdvisors
Highton, Jamie M.Publication Date
2016-09
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With recent advancements in technology, fully-immersive virtual reality (VR) is now fast emerging as the latest piece of equipment that may revolutionise the way in which athletes are able to train. However, as of yet, few have examined the perceptual and physiological responses to exercising in VR and the subsequent impact it may have on performance. Using a repeated measures randomised crossover design, thirteen recreationally active participants (age = 24.9 ± 4.6 y; body mass = 78.7 ± 6.3 kg; stature = 178.6 ± 3.7 cm; VO2max = 55.1 ± 7.1 ml·kg-1·min-1, P-VO2 =344.7 ± 49.7) completed a time to exhaustion test (TTE) at 80% of P-VO2 under a control (CON) and virtual reality (VR) condition, with a minimum of 48h between trials. TTE (ES = 0.78; ±0.37), enjoyment (ES = 0.85; ±0.49) and positive affect (ES = 0.78; ±0.65) were all greater in the VR condition compared to CON. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) increased similarly over time in both conditions with the exception of minute 2, whereby RPE was lower in the VR condition (ES = 0.88; ±0.52). There were no changes in VO2 peak, b[La] and negative affect between conditions. These findings provide evidence to suggest that during the early stages of high intensity activity fully-immersive VR has the potential to reduce RPE. Further to this, VR also appears to increase the enjoyment of exercise at a high intensity and therefore increase the motivation to continue exercising. Future research should continue to explore this rapidly developing technology.Citation
Williams, T. (2016). The physiological and perceptual responses to cycling exercise in a fully-immersive virtual environment (Master's thesis). University of Chester, United Kingdom.Publisher
University of ChesterType
Thesis or dissertationLanguage
enCollections
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