Virtual Reality in Sports: The Athlete's View

Virtual reality (VR) has been around for a while, but its use in sports is fairly new. It is important to understand how athletes see this technology. A recent study looked into how athletes use VR and the challenges they face. The study involved 14 athletes who had used VR headsets before. They were asked about their experiences and thoughts on VR. The conversations were recorded, cleaned up, and analyzed. The findings were grouped into nine main themes: where, when, why, what, how often and for how long, experience, acceptance, main obstacles, and solutions to these obstacles. One big finding was that both athletes and coaches are slow to accept VR as a training tool. The main reasons for this are cost, motion sickness, coach attitudes, awareness, understanding, and visibility. Cost is a big issue. VR equipment can be expensive, and not all teams or athletes can afford it. Motion sickness is another problem. Some athletes feel sick when using VR, which makes it hard to train effectively. Coach attitudes also play a role. If coaches don't see the value in VR, they won't use it. Awareness and understanding are also important. Many athletes and coaches don't know much about VR or how it can help. Finally, visibility is an issue. If athletes don't see others using VR, they might not think it's worth trying. To make VR more popular in sports, education and training are key. Athletes and coaches need to learn about the benefits of VR and how to use it effectively. Making VR more accessible is also important. This could mean lowering the cost of equipment or providing more opportunities to try VR. Future research should look at other groups, like young and professional athletes. It should also explore different types of VR and extended reality technology. For example, mixed reality combines VR and the real world, which could be useful in sports. The goal is to find the best ways to use VR in real-life settings. In conclusion, VR has a lot of potential in sports, but there are challenges to overcome. By understanding athletes' perceptions and addressing the main obstacles, VR can become a valuable tool for training and performance.