Creating a smart virtual reality simulator for sports training and education

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) has been increasingly applied in a training context, including sports. VR provides an opportunity to train in an immersive, safe and controlled environment, with support for accurate performance measurement and user feedback. In this paper we present a prototype of a smart VR simulator for ski jumping training. It is modelled after the ski jumping hill of Granåsen in Trondheim, Norway that has been venue for several international skiing competitions and is now competing for hosting World Ski Championship in 2021. The prototype supports Oculus Rift and has been evaluated with both athletes and representatives for the general public. The paper presents the results of the implementation and evaluation, outlining directions for future work.