Setting the Stage: Using Virtual Reality to Assess the Effects of Music Performance Anxiety in Pianists.

Nicalia ThompSon, Xueni Pan, Maria Herrojo Ruiz
{"title":"Setting the Stage: Using Virtual Reality to Assess the Effects of Music Performance Anxiety in Pianists.","authors":"Nicalia ThompSon, Xueni Pan, Maria Herrojo Ruiz","doi":"10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549843","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is highly prevalent among musicians and often debilitating, associated with changes in cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to performance situations. Efforts have been made to create simulated performance environments in conservatoires and Virtual Reality (VR) to assess their effectiveness in managing MPA. Despite these advances, results have been mixed, underscoring the need for controlled experimental designs and joint analyses of performance, physiology, and subjective ratings in these settings. Furthermore, the broader application of simulated performance environments for at-home use and laboratory studies on MPA remains limited. We designed VR scenarios to induce MPA in pianists and embedded them within a controlled within-subject experimental design to systematically assess their effects on performance, physiology, and anxiety ratings. Twenty pianists completed a performance task under two conditions: a public 'Audition' and a private 'Studio' rehearsal. Participants experienced VR pre-performance settings before transitioning to live piano performances in the real world. We measured subjective anxiety, performance (MIDI data), and heart rate variability (HRV). Compared to the Studio condition, pianists in the Audition condition reported higher somatic anxiety ratings and demonstrated an increase in performance accuracy over time, with a reduced error rate. Additionally, their performances were faster and featured increased note intensity. No concurrent changes in HRV were observed. These results validate the potential of VR to induce MPA, enhancing pitch accuracy and invigorating tempo and dynamics. We discuss the strengths and limitations of this approach to develop VR-based interventions to mitigate the debilitating effects of MPA.</p>","PeriodicalId":94035,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics","volume":"PP ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549843","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is highly prevalent among musicians and often debilitating, associated with changes in cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to performance situations. Efforts have been made to create simulated performance environments in conservatoires and Virtual Reality (VR) to assess their effectiveness in managing MPA. Despite these advances, results have been mixed, underscoring the need for controlled experimental designs and joint analyses of performance, physiology, and subjective ratings in these settings. Furthermore, the broader application of simulated performance environments for at-home use and laboratory studies on MPA remains limited. We designed VR scenarios to induce MPA in pianists and embedded them within a controlled within-subject experimental design to systematically assess their effects on performance, physiology, and anxiety ratings. Twenty pianists completed a performance task under two conditions: a public 'Audition' and a private 'Studio' rehearsal. Participants experienced VR pre-performance settings before transitioning to live piano performances in the real world. We measured subjective anxiety, performance (MIDI data), and heart rate variability (HRV). Compared to the Studio condition, pianists in the Audition condition reported higher somatic anxiety ratings and demonstrated an increase in performance accuracy over time, with a reduced error rate. Additionally, their performances were faster and featured increased note intensity. No concurrent changes in HRV were observed. These results validate the potential of VR to induce MPA, enhancing pitch accuracy and invigorating tempo and dynamics. We discuss the strengths and limitations of this approach to develop VR-based interventions to mitigate the debilitating effects of MPA.

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信