Virtual Motivation: The Psychological and Transfer of Learning Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality Practice

Previous research has shown practice within an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment improves performance in a physical environment. Increased user motivation is one possible advantage of practicing in VR. One recent study showed that an enriched gaming environment led to higher levels of engagement, resulting in a direct learning benefit. The purpose of this study was to compare the intrinsic motivation, engagement, and transfer of learning between VR practice and physical practice of the same motor skill. Participants (n = 61) were randomly assigned to a physical (n = 30) or a VR practice group (n = 31) in which they performed a golf putting task. Analyses showed VR practice led to a significantly greater increase in average intrinsic motivation inventory score than physical practice. Analyses for performance showed there was a significant (p <.001) improvement in accuracy (i.e., radial error) from pre- to posttest, but the two groups did not differ. Overall, these results partially support our hypotheses suggesting that VR practice led to a greater increase in motivation compared with physical practice. Additionally, these results suggest that VR practice was similarly effective at improving accuracy compared with physical practice. Future research directions are discussed.