Virtual cycling effort is dependent on power update rate.

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Virtual Reality Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Virtual reality environments (VRE) are increasingly used with cycling ergometers for exercise experiments.
• Visual delays in VRE can negatively impact user presence and physiological responses.
• The effect of power update rate (PUR) delays on the cyclist's interface in VRE is under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of varying power update rates (PUR) on cyclist performance in an avatar-based virtual reality simulator.
• To analyze the effects of PUR on performance metrics during a simulated drafting task.

Main Methods:

• A custom cycling virtual reality environment (VRE) was developed.
• Twenty-one male recreational cyclists participated in the study.
• Participants were tested across six different PUR levels, ranging from 100 to 3000 milliseconds.

Main Results:

• Power update rate (PUR) significantly affected performance scores, including virtual distance, efficiency, and heart rate (p < 0.01).
• Higher PUR levels consistently resulted in statistically equivalent or superior performance.
• No significant performance differences were observed between PUR levels of 500ms and lower.

Conclusions:

• The study demonstrates that PUR is a critical factor influencing performance in virtual cycling.
• Virtual cycling protocols should account for PUR and other delay-related factors affecting physiological responses and performance.
• Optimizing PUR is essential for enhancing user experience and data accuracy in VRE cycling simulations.