Impact of virtual reality immersion on exercise performance and perceptions in young, middle-aged and older adults

This study compared the effect of high and low levels of virtual reality (VR) immersion during moderate and high intensity cycling-exercise in younger (18–35 years), middle-aged (36–50 years), and older (51–69 years) adults. Thirty participants (5 female and 5 males per age group) completed moderate (steady state: 15 minutes at 60–75% maximum heart rate (MHR)) and high (sprint: 10 x 30 second sprints at 75–85% MHR) intensity cycling in four conditions: VR using a head-mounted display (High HMD), room-projector (Low Room), screen-projector (Low Screen) and No VR. Exercise performance measures (cadence, distance, power output) were recorded. Following each VR condition, exercise enjoyment (PACES) and exercise engagement (Flow State Scale) were measured. Results showed that exercise intensity had a significant effect of age on; heart rate (steady state and sprint), cadence (sprint) and distance (sprint) (p’s <0.05). A significant effect of condition was observed during the sprint exercise for heart rate (p < 0.05). No other significant condition effects were observed for exercise performance. Significant effects of condition were identified for exercise engagement relating to sense of control (p < 0.01) and loss of self-consciousness (p < 0.05) with the highest values occurring in the Low Screen condition for all age groups, while transformation of time was significantly different (p < 0.05) for the middle-aged adults (highest during High VR and Low Screen). These results indicate that irrespective of age, participants found themselves in control and immersed more during the Low Screen VR condition than the other VR and No VR conditions. The findings indicate that VR immersion impacts exercise performance and exercise engagement in different age-groups and therefore should be considered when using VR to promote exercise behaviour.