Showing Eye Movement Modelling Examples in Virtual Reality Increases Quiet Eye Duration and Improves Real World Motor...

Background: Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to train elite athletes using innovative ways such as through point-of-view (POV) observation and visual augmentation. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how, independent of physical practice, VR may be used to train visuomotor skills, especially the Quiet Eye (QE). Research Design: In a pre-post design, 42 golf novices either watched a training video in a VR headset that was based on Eye-Movement-Modelling-Examples (EMME) or did not receive gaze training (Control). One EMME variation showed the eye-gaze cursor of an expert while putting using a circle (i.e., cursor-only, termed Cursor), and a second variation showed the same gaze cursor but with peripheral information blurred (i.e., hereafter Blurred). Participants were not given any instructions about Quiet Eye. Subsequent putting performance and eye-movement behaviour were evaluated. Results: The results indicated that the Cursor visualisation significantly increased holed putts, reduced putting radial error, and improved putt line and length pre-to-post. There was also a significant reduction in radial error pre-to-post for the Blurred condition, but not for the Control condition. QE duration increased for all conditions pre-to-post, but improvement was largest for the Cursor condition, followed by Blurred, then Control. Conclusions: The findings indicate an enhanced learning effect of Cursor video training on longer QE duration and improved putting performance, including holed putts. Observing expert eye movement videos using VR augmentation may facilitate motor skill learning through visuomotor skill development, independent of physical practice.