Using Virtual Reality to Analyze Sports Performance
Résumé
Understanding and increasing performance in sports is difficult as many different biomechanical, physiological and psychological factors come into play during competition. To understand and consequently improve performance it is important to isolate contributing factors to determine their role in player performance. Video playback, the oft chosen method for studying this, does not permit this type of in-depth analysis. For example, the lack of control an observer has over what and how they see something is a major flaw. The aim of this paper is to present the interest of serious games and interactive immersive virtual reality (VR) as the new preferred method for understanding sports performance from a behavioral neuroscience perspective. By showcasing two practical examples which use VR and sophisticated animation software we aim to demonstrate how this technology can help us understand how the information picked up from the visual displays informs a player's future course of action.