Adults Reaching Kinematics in Virtual Environment

The research question is to examine the effects of object size (large vs small) and task goal (reach at a comfortable pace vs reach as fast as possible) in the virtual environment. Forty-one healthy adults participated in virtual bubble-popping games that ran on our virtual reality platform (SuperPop VR), which can precisely measure reaching kinematics (movement time, straightness, jerkiness, and speed). Participants began with their dominant hand for each condition and alternated hands after each condition was tested three times. A repeated ANOVA was used for analyses. Reaches for small bubbles had longer duration, faster speed, and jerkier with more curved trajectories than reaches for large bubbles; reaches for small bubbles also had larger elbow and shoulder range of motion than reaches for large bubbles. In addition, reaches during participants’ comfortable pace had longer duration, slower speed, and larger shoulder range of motion than reaches during their fast pace. Additionally, participants’ non-dominant hands had faster speed than their dominant hands. Our findings confirmed that object size and task goals affected reaching kinematics even during VR games.

本研究的核心问题在于探讨物体尺寸（大与小）以及任务目标（以舒适的速度到达与尽可能快速到达）对虚拟环境中动作的影响。四十一名健康成年人参与了在我们的虚拟现实平台（SuperPop VR）上运行的虚拟泡泡爆破游戏，该平台能够精确测量到达运动的运动学参数（运动时间、直线性、突变性以及速度）。参与者以优势手开始每个条件下的实验，并在每个条件测试三次后交替使用双手。研究采用了重复方差分析（ANOVA）进行数据分析。结果显示，对于小型泡泡的到达动作持续时间更长，速度更快，轨迹更弯曲，突变性更强，相较于大型泡泡的到达动作；同时，对于小型泡泡的到达动作，肘部和肩部的活动范围也大于大型泡泡的到达动作。此外，以舒适速度进行的到达动作在持续时间、速度和肩部活动范围上均大于以快速速度进行的到达动作。此外，参与者的非优势手速度也快于优势手。我们的研究结果证实了物体尺寸和任务目标即便在虚拟现实游戏中也会对动作运动学产生影响。