A Framework for Interactive Sport Training Technology

Participation in organized sport has many physical, mental, and social benefits, but there are a variety of obstacles in joining and continued participation including access to adequate coaching, equipment, and training facilities. These obstacles lead to inequitable access to high-quality and engaging training, which is a critical problem because adequate training is the main gateway to learning and participating in a sport. Increasingly, technology is used to augment sports training by improving its effectiveness, accessibility, and/or making it more engaging. However, the vast and disparate number of fields contributing to these advancements make it difficult to comprehensively understand technology’s current and potential impact on sport training. This review synthesizes work across fields, including human-computer interaction, computer science, sport science, engineering, psychology, and health sciences, into a classification of research and findings regarding interactive sport training technology organized around four characterizing dimensions: (1) Why augment sport? (the goal); (2) Which sport skill is being supported? (the target); (3) Which training method is used? (the method); (4) How is training augmented (the form). From this synthesis, we identify gaps in training technology research and propose a framework that can provide a common base for the design and creation of future interactive technologies for sport training.