The effect of a full immersive Playstation VR training program on the children’s perceptual abilities development in Volleyball

Abstract

This study examined the impact of two different educational interventions, a program that were based on full immersive virtual reality games (FIVE) and a typical training program (TT), in Depth Perception (DP) and Anticipation Reaction Time (ART) of forty-eight female volleyball players aged 8-10 years old. The players were randomly separated into three individual groups of 16 children each, two experimental groups (FIVE, TT) and one control group. The FIVE group attended, for 6 weeks, twice a week and 24 min per session, a full immersive program in Playstation4VR and the TT group a typical training to the court, based to improve DP and ART. The control group did not receive any structured DP and ART training program. Before the interventions, after and one –month after, DP was estimated using Electric Depth Perception Tester and ART using Bassin Anticipation Timer. Were conducted Two-Way analyses of variance with repeated measures, to demonstrate the impact of educational interventions measurements across the two movements on DP efficacy and the two speeds (5mph and 10mph) on ART performance. The post and the retention tests DP in both movements scores were remarkably greater than pre-test for FIVE and TT groups but not for the control group. Additionally, on the ART scores, it was observed that only at a speed of 10 mph did the post and retention test scores show a significant increase compared to the pre-test scores for both experimental groups, while no such increase was observed in the control group. To conclude, exergames VR and a typical training are effective tools for improving DP and ART in volleyball players aged 8-10 years old.