The Use of Virtual Reality to Alter Physical Activity by Targeting the Built Environment

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Public Health
• Human Movement Science

Background:

• Built environmental determinants of physical activity research faces challenges with causality.
• Virtual reality (VR) presents a novel approach to overcome these limitations.
• VR enables controlled investigations into environmental influences on physical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and review methods for adapting VR technology in built environmental research.
• To explore how VR capabilities shape research questions, validity, and generalizability.
• To highlight future innovations for VR in physical activity research.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of existing literature on VR applications in built environmental research.
• Analysis of VR methodologies and their application to physical activity studies.
• Examination of VR simulation development and travel functionalities in research.

Main Results:

• Current research predominantly focuses on walking and cycling as physical activities.
• Diverse VR methodologies are employed despite a narrow range of physical activity types.
• VR technology's capabilities influence research scope, validity, and generalizability.

Conclusions:

• VR is a powerful tool for studying built environmental factors influencing physical activity.
• Future research should expand beyond walking and cycling to explore other physical activities.
• Innovations in VR technology are needed to address current research limitations.