Event:

Adequate, multimodal feedback is crucial for skill acquisition. As opposed to real world environments, virtual reality (VR) allows for generating and evaluating innovative types of augmented feedback for motor learning and sports coaching. In this talk, I will present a series of experiments that examine learning and coaching of complex motor action in an immersive, state-of-the-art, low-latency cave automatic virtual environment, in which the athlete enters a virtual fitness room with a virtual mirror and a virtual coach. Specifically, I will demonstrate the influence of new types of augmented feedback during acquisition of a motor skill such as watching one’s own performance together with full-body superimposition of a skilled performance, receiving verbal, individualized feedback as provided by a virtual coach or watching and imagining oneself performing at a skill level that one has not yet achieved. From the results of this line of experiments, VR is a promising tool to create learning environments that exceed real-world opportunities. Based on these findings, I will discuss the potential of VR for motor learning and sports coaching for both research and applied work.