Virtual Reality Could Improve Exercise Performance on a Stationary Bike

Abstract

: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of manipulating visual information about one’s movement in Virtual Reality (VR) during physical training on a stationary bike. In the first experiment, the participants’ ( N =30) task was to cycle on a stationary bike while embodying a virtual avatar. Fifteen participants experienced the Slow condition, in which a virtual avatar cycled at the constant speed of 15km/h, while the other fifteen participants experienced the Fast condition, in which a virtual avatar cycled at the constant speed of 35km/h. In the second experiment, we tested whether introducing agency (i.e., linking real-life cycling speed with the cycling speed of a virtual avatar), would improve exercise performance. Participants ( N =31) experienced counterbalanced conditions: Faster optic flow (avatar’s speed was 15% faster than the participants’ real cycling speed), and Slower optic flow (avatar’s speed was 15% slower than the participants’ real cycling speed). Results showed that all participants increased their cycling speed when experiencing altered cycling speed of a virtual avatar compared with their baselines, but in the first experiment, participants cycled faster in the faster optic flow condition, while in the second experiment, when participants controlled the virtual avatar’s cycling speed, there were no differences between the Fast and Slow conditions. Participants described the cycling in VR as a pleasant experience. The present study suggests that the addition of Virtual Reality during exercise training may increase cycling performance.