Sports training in virtual reality with a focus on visual perception: a systematic review

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Abstract

Introduction

There is an increasing endeavor to use Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in sports training. Because visual perception is crucial for sports performance, it should also be considered in the development of VR tools. The aim of this review is to summarise the literature on the application fields and domains of sport in VR and to examine what needs to be considered when developing such VR training tools with regard to visual perception and its manipulation. Furthermore, it is still unclear to what extent the user's body or that of their teammates or opponents must be visualized in VR.

Methods

The literature search was conducted based on five databases: PsychInfo, Pubmed, Scopus, SportDiscus, and IEEE Explore. Review articles and original articles written in English and published between 1 January 2015 and 31 March 2024 were considered.

Results

Through a qualitative analysis of the selected research, we identified 12 reviews and 46 research articles. While the applications of VR in sports initially focussed on endurance sports at the beginning of the development of VR tools, within the last 5 years VR was found in almost all sports, such as team sports, martial arts, and individual sports. The most common sports domains in which VR is used are motor learning, training of visual perception, decision making processes, and anticipation skills, as well as many sport-specific trainings. The review provides an overview of the extent to which visual aids in VR can be used to optimize motor learning and training, also taking into account the transfer to the real world.

Discussion

VR offers many opportunities to visually support sports training and motor learning. It has been shown that training in VR based purely on visual perception can be successful in many sports and sports domains. The following visualization options are already being used: different viewing perspectives, variation of the demonstrated speed of movement, use of virtual mirrors, visualization of the necessary body parts, visual manipulation to identify important stimuli, display of movement trajectories, and graphic aids. In future, more studies should be conducted to compare training under virtual conditions with training under real conditions and to investigate transfer effects. Eye tracking should also be used for this purpose in order to compare visual perception in VR and in reality. Less is known about how VR training can be realized in terms of frequency, duration, and intensity and how VR training can be combined with training in the reality world.

Related collections

Most cited references 73

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

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Author and article information

Contributors

Kerstin Witte: URI : https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/35940/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role:

Dan Bürger: URI : https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1742565/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role:

Stefan Pastel: URI : https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/2887473/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role:

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Front Sports Act Living

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Front Sports Act Living

Journal ID (publisher-id): Front. Sports Act. Living

Title: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.

ISSN (Electronic): 2624-9367

Publication date (Electronic): 20 March 2025

Publication date Collection: 2025

Volume: 7

Electronic Location Identifier: 1530948

Affiliations

Department Sports Engineering/Movement Science, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg , Magdeburg, Germany

Author notes

Edited by: Gavin L. Moir, East Stroudsburg University, United States

Reviewed by: Matthew Miltenberger, East Stroudsburg University, United States

Brandon Snyder, East Stroudsburg University, United States

[* ] Correspondence: Kerstin Witte Kerstin.witte@ 123456ovgu.de

Article

DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1530948

PMC ID: 11966202

PubMed ID: 40181931

SO-VID: ba648ee0-6116-4907-881f-97f00c5fe677

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

History

Date received : 03 December 2024

Date accepted : 27 February 2025

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 5, Equations: 0, References: 75, Pages: 22, Words: 0

Funding

Funded by: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Award ID: WI 1456/22−3

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. The study was financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under grant WI 1456/22−3.

Custom metadata

section-at-acceptance Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement

Keywords: virtual reality,sports training,visual perception,motor learning,literature review

Data availability:

Keywords: virtual reality, sports training, visual perception, motor learning, literature review