Immersive Virtual Reality vs Treadmill Exercise Project

Rowan University61 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this research project is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual reality-based physical activity (VRPA) intervention for inactive adults compared to more traditional forms of physical activity. The project will explore the relationship between VRPA engagement and cognition, biological measures (calories burned, heart rate, and active minutes), rate of perceived exertion, flow, affect, and enjoyment in physical activity as well.

The feasibility and acceptability of a Virtual Reality Physical Activity (VRPA) intervention will be examined. VRPA will be compared with more traditional modes of physical activity (e.g., walking on a treadmill) with regard to physical biomarkers (i.e., heart rate, calories burned, active minutes), flow state (i.e., Flow Short Scale), cognition (e.g., Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Digital version of the WRAML-2 Symbolic Working Memory Test-Part 1, and Digital Backward Digit Span), affect (e.g., Activation-Deactivation Adjective List and DASS-21), perceived exertion (e.g., Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion and one question regarding how hard they think they will exert themselves), willingness (i.e., to pay, intent to engage in physical activity), and physical enjoyment (i.e., Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale). 1. Recruit and enroll 60 participants a. Participants will be recruited through the SONA system (i.e., student pool for collecting psychological research), word-of-mouth, email lists, flyers, and online classified ads 2. Participants will be screened to ensure they meet the inclusion criteria 3. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions (VR, Treadmill + Music, Sitting + Music) 4. Participants will complete baseline measures a. Demographic information will be collected (e.g., ethnicity, height, weight, experience with exergames, current physical activity, physical activity readiness) b. Participants will: i. Complete the following surveys 1\. Cognition 2. Affect 3. How hard do they think they will exert themselves 4. Willingness ii. Get the following measurements taken: 1\. Heart Rate (HR) 6. Participants will engage in a warm-up/acclimation period on either the VR exergame or treadmill condition 7. Participants will engage in exercise for 20-30 minutes in the VR/treadmill condition, or sit quietly listening to music (control condition) 1. HR will be measured during all 3 conditions 2. The treadmill condition will be configured to a level that allows participants to engage in comfortable conversation while experiencing some breathlessness (i.e., brisk/moderate pace) 8. Post-exercise/sitting, participants will a. Complete the following surveys: i. Feasibility ii. Acceptability iii. Cognition iv. Flow v. Affect vi. Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) vii. Willingness viii. Physical Enjoyment b. Get the following measurements taken: i. Heart Rate ii. Calories burned

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Control Virtual Reality Physical Activity Treadmill

Interventions

VRPABEHAVIORAL

Effects of virtual reality physical activity on outcomes

TreadmillBEHAVIORAL

Effects of treadmill walking with music on outcomes

ControlBEHAVIORAL

Effects of music while sitting on outcomes

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 64 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Be inactive (i.e., do not meet physical activity guidelines) 2. have no current neurological, psychiatric, sensory, or motor impairment, and normal or corrected-to-normal vision (only thin wire glasses or contacts can be used) 3. have no history of motion sickness 4. have the ability to exercise based on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) (Warburton et al., 2019) 5. Have not fallen to the point of injury in the last 6 months. 6. Be willing to wear an activity tracker 7. 18-64 years, Exclusion Criteria: 1. Do not meet the inclusion criteria 2. Struggle to use operate a VR headset 3. Cannot read 4. Have concerns about balance/falling while using a VR headset, 5. Unable to provide informed consent

Locations (1)

Rowan University

Glassboro, New Jersey, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Pace of participant recruitment

enrollment rate of 6 participants per month

Time frame: Up to 24 months

Number of participants willing to continue using the assigned exercie modality

Willingness to continue using the exercise modality to which the participants were assigned and self-report enjoyment from engaging in the assigned exercise.

Time frame: Day 1

Percentage of participants who complete the required tasks in each condition

Are participants able to complete the required tasks

Time frame: Day 1

Secondary Outcomes

Changes in Heart Rate

Differences in heart rate from pre- to post session

Time frame: Day 1

Self-reported measures of "flow" associated with the assigned conditions

Flow will be assessed using the Flow Short Scale (Rheinberg et al, 2003) that is comprised of 13 questions answered on a 7-point scale (1 = Not at all, 7 = very much). Scores can range from 13-91, with lower scores indicating less of a "flow state" or feelings of immersion in the assigned activity.

Time frame: Day 1

Changes in affect

Using the Activation-Deactivation Checklist (Thayer et al., 1986), participants will rate 20 different adjectives on a 4-point scale (1= definitely feel, 2= feel slightly, 3= cannot decide, 4= definitely do not feel) before they engage in the assigned activity and after they engage in the assigned activity. Lower numbers will indicate higher endorsements of a particular feeling, but the primary outcome will examine any changes in pre- to post-activity ratings of the different affective states.

Time frame: Day 1

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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