Physical Activity in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Physical activity has benefits for health, but many adolescents are inactive. However, video games such as Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) have grown in popularity as a leisure activity among young people, allowing them to manipulate objects in virtual environments increasing the practice of physical activity. The evidence indicates that the interest in physical activity through IVR is greater than in traditional methods, and different experiences have been reported. However, few studies indicate the sample evaluated, the effects found, or the IVR instruments used. Due to this, is the aim of this study is to identify the publications referring to IVR and physical activity, characterize them, and present the obtained main findings. For this, the guidelines described in the PRISMA-ScR for scoping reviews were applied. After the use of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, eight articles were included. Results show evidence regarding physiological outcomes, perceptual variables, interest and enjoyment, and psychological effects regarding physical activity through IVR. Additionally, the use of different devices and their prescriptions are explored. It is concluded that there is interest from the scientific community for the practice of physical activity through IVR, as well as for its application for the maintenance of active habits. This is important as it positions IVR as a method that can be a more experiential and effective way to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Using Ankle Weights as an Effective Way to Increase the Intensity of Physical Activity While Playing Immersive Virtual Reality Games on an Omnidirectional Treadmill

“…Although many recent studies have assessed PA intensity in VR [13,15,16,19,33,34], few of them addressed exercise using an omnidirectional treadmill. This is probably due to the fact that this type of equipment is still relatively expensive and not widely available.…”

Field-based fitness measures improve via an immersive virtual reality exergaming platform: a randomized controlled trial

“…More specifically, we posit that these results were a product of a decrease in perceived exertion as well as the adaptive resistance mechanisms within the IVR machine. A benefit of virtual reality within the realm of exercise is that a heightened enjoyment may attenuate perceived exertion, which ultimately pushes individuals to work closer to fatigue (Giakoni-Ramírez et al, 2023). In the past, our laboratory has observed high rates of workout satisfaction in conjunction with significant differences in rates of perceived exertion when comparing IVR exergaming to traditional, cablebased strength training (Hu et al, 2021;Mologne et al, 2022).…”

Born to Run, Programmed to Play: Mapping the Extended Reality Exergames Landscape

“…While some of these works focus on specific subtypes or use cases of XR exergames, no work has yet provided an up-to-date overview of this rapidly evolving domain. Some reviews focused on general physical activity, not particularly on exergames (e.g., [79,184]). Other reviews covered non-immersive "VR" exergames (e.g., [36,45,49]) and examined their health-related outcomes (e.g., [49,141,165]).…”

“…Kappen et al [110] identified various focuses of non-immersive exergames (e.g., cognitive training) for older adults, which we incorporated in the goal dimension of our taxonomy. Lastly, only a few papers considered the intersection of XR technology and physical activity (e.g., [79,184]). Odenigbo et al [184] reviewed 39 VR, AR, and MR physical activity interventions and showed that most of them included exergaming.…”