Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
defender in rugby. The second one concerns the influence of the wall configuration
during free kick in soccer on the goalkeeper's performance. Both examples emphasize
the importance of freedom of movements and displacements for the analysis of
the performance of the immersed athletes. These features are indeed fundamental
when studying sports. It allows the immersed subject to react realistically without
constraints, to act as in real situation.
Thus, as we have illustrated, virtual reality is a fundamental tool for sports appli-
cations. It indeed offers standardized and fully controlled situations. The influence
of one parameter on the performance of an athlete can then be analyzed by only
modifying it and by observing the reaction of the immersed subject. Virtual reality
thus offers a new way to understand performance and to increase the knowledge on
sports. Another important application of the use of virtual reality for sports concerns
the training. These simulators can indeed also be used to train the athletes. It offers an
environment that controls exactly the information provided and allows the training of
specific situations. Moreover, information can be added to the virtual environment to
focus the attention of the athlete on important features of the opponents' movement
for example. Indeed it is possible to use the knowledge obtained in virtual reality
experiments on sports to create a new generation of training systems.
Nevertheless, in this kind of studies in virtual reality, the situations are always cho-
sen with limited displacements. Having displacement devices would largely extend
the range of studies that can be done. In the duel of the first case study for example,
the defender is real and the attacker virtual. In the opposite duel between a virtual
defender and a real attacker, the displacements are mainly done toward the screen.
The use of a locomotion device is then necessary to handle these displacements. A
specific device should obviously be developed nevertheless because the displace-
ments are fast and jerky. In the same way, in soccer, some studies [
19
,
20
]worked
on the perception of aerial balls with effects (such as the Magnus one). To go further
and study the interception of these aerial balls (for example lobs in soccer, fly balls
in baseball), it is then necessary to have a displacement device that allows to move
at least forward and backward. Indeed, having a large CAVE for example is not a
solution since the immersed subject must be near the screen to see the balls that can
be very high. When the subject is too far from the screen, the vertical field of view
is then too limited and the subject looses the ball. A displacement device is then
necessary to walk around the virtual field while staying near the screen of the virtual
reality system.
References
1. Abernethy B (1985) Cue usage in open motor skills: a review of available procedures. Motor
memory and control. Human Performance Associates, Otago
2. Abernethy B (1987) Anticipation in sport: a review. Phys educ rev 10(1):5-16
3. Abernethy B (1988) Dual-task methodology and motor skills research: Some applications and
methodological constraints. J Hum Mov Study 14:101-132
