Quantity, Intensity, And Enjoyment Of Physical Activity During Virtual Reality Games In Children

Sedentary lifestyles have been on the rise in the US with only 20% of children/ adolescents reporting meeting the minimum amount of recommended physical activity. In recent years virtual reality (VR) gaming has grown in popularity and accessibility. Because the technology is so new, very little is known about physical activity trends during gameplay. Two of the most popular VR games currently available are Gorilla Tag (GT) and Beat Saber (BS). No studies to our knowledge have evaluated either game in children. PURPOSE: To investigate the quantity, intensity, and enjoyment of physical activity while playing GT and BS in youth. METHODS: 21 participants (7-13 years) played two VR games (GT and BS) in a random order in a single study session. Participants played the first game for a 5-10 minute familiarization period. Then, after 5 minutes of rest, participants played the same game for another 15 minutes. Following 10 minutes of rest, the same procedure was used for the second game. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale-child version (PACES) was completed for each game. During gameplay, participants wore a heart rate monitor and accelerometers on the dominant wrist and waist to collect physical activity (PA) data. Measures included percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR) and percentage of time the waist and wrist were in sedentary time, light PA (LPA), and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). Dependent t-tests were used to compare measures between games. RESULTS: The results revealed that participants had more MVPA of the arm during GT (97.0% ± 2.5) compared to BS (89.4% ± 7.6; p < .001). Participants had more MVPA and LPA of the waist during GT (MVPA 22.0% ± 14.1; LPA 20.5% ± 5.4) compared to BS (MVPA 8.7% ± 8.1; LPA 9.4% ± 8.2; p’s < .001). Participants had significantly less sedentary time of the arm and waist during GT (2.4% ± 2.2; 57.5% ± 16.5) compared to BS (9.1% ± 7.5; 81.9% ± 15.6; p’s < .001). Participants also had significantly higher average and maximum HRR during GT (30.0% ± 11.6; 47.0% ± 13.8) compared to BS (20.0% ± 8.4; p < .001; 35.0% ± 8.7; p = .002). BS (4.2 ± .68) and GT (4.2 ± .55) had similar enjoyment scores on the paces. CONCLUSION: According to the accelerometer and HR data, subjects were more active while playing GT compared to BS with the GT avg HRR in the light intensity range, max HRR in moderate, BS avg HRR below light, and max HRR in the light range.