Evaluation of visual perception manipulation in virtual reality training environments to improve golf performance

In the real world, prior research in the field of perception and action has shown that individuals visually perceive objects differently based on their actual performance of an action on those objects, especially for sporting activities. For example, a golfer who performs well on putting a ball into the hole, will perceive that ball as larger (easier to hit) and the hole as larger (easier to put the ball in). We asked the following research question, can manipulation of visual perception of objects influence actual performance in the real world? Virtual objects are easily manipulated in Virtual Reality environments, therefore we investigated the use of Virtual Reality training where the properties of objects, such as size, were manipulated to influence perception on a golf putting task. In this paper, we present the results of our experimental user study. Putting performance increased after virtual reality training exposure when virtual objects were larger (perceived as easier to hit) and decreased when virtual objects were smaller (more difficult to hit). Our research has the potential to broaden the study of how virtual reality training can be used to improve sports training in a unique way.