Don’t Drop the Ball: A Comparison of Throwing Performance Between VR and Real Life

A two-experiment study assessed throwing performance in VR and real life. The first experiment was a direct comparison of a carnival type throwing game in which participants attempted to throw 20 balls into a bucket from distances of 5 and 10 ft. Fifteen participants completed the task in both real life and in an identical VR environment. In the second experiment, the same task was repeated at the 5ft distance only with the addition of a randomized order of three different VR controllers and the real-life condition. Results from both experiments indicate substantial differences between real life and VR performance along with differences between controllers. Significant VR research has stressed enhancing visual quality to better replicate real life. However, the focus needs to shift to examine creating accurate psychomotor interactions to achieve more accurate performance and ultimately training success.