Macrocosm: Is VR our solution to pandemic lethargy?

Westend61

The coronavirus quarantine and the ongoing orders to stay indoors and limit interaction with others caused some people to miss the mark on continual physical fitness and mental well-being.

But not everyone. One group may be doing better than anticipated: gamers. The use of VR (or virtual reality) games, according to recent studies from scientists at the University of Portsmouth, has shown a marked increase during the coronavirus pandemic. This research also indicates that interactive VR can improve physical and mental well-being - two areas that needed critical attention during a period of societal uncertainty and stress.

The study distributed surveys to various social media platforms and message boards that were popular with VR users: Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, targeting specific channels and pages to ensure that the audience reached were new and seasoned VR participants. The subjects were given a 16-question questionnaire that evaluated their experience with VR, whether they had increased use during the lockdown, and how strenuous their activity was.

The results supported the initial hypothesis: VR usage has increased during the lockdown and the activity itself has helped improve physical and mental health over the course of this forced quarantine.

What is VR?

When we think of virtual reality, our minds may jump to the Tron movie franchise or mythic tales of sci-fi worlds projected onto our irises. Realistically, VR is merely a step-up from our high-quality television or computer monitors, with added, interactive elements. If you've ever used a flight simulator or even ridden on a roller coaster with a screen projected in front of you to depict you sailing above the Amazon rainforest or deep space, you've interacted with virtual reality.

Typically, VR games are closer to a flight or driving simulator than a roller coaster. Users wish to impact the experience around them rather than drive through a pre-planned experience. One popular VR game is SUPERHOT, by independent studio Superhot Team, where the player battles blocky, humanoid shapes with fists and guns, with time slowing and speeding up in response to the player's movements. Others include Beat Saber, where a player slashes with a controller in time to a song of their choosing, and Star Wars Squadrons, where users take on the identity of star fighter pilots during the climactic battles of the original Lucasfilm trilogy.

VR gaming has undoubtedly impacted the global market, with an evaluation of $5.12 billion in 2019. The market share is expected to grow to over $45 billion by 2027, steadily increasing by 30% per year. Even with recent explosive sales from Sony during its premiere of the PlayStation 5, VR has a steady market position. The demand for an escape from reality only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How does VR help?

The real strength of VR in promoting health, researchers say, is its interactivity. Most game systems that support VR have controllers that must be maneuvered to interact with the surrounding environment. To battle someone with a sword in VR, for example, the player must maneuver a piece of plastic in their hand to jab, parry, block, and strike very quickly to avoid being struck themselves and losing 'hit points.' 

This physical exertion manages to work up a sweat for some users: intensity of physical activity across users was described as "vigorous" or "moderate" for nearly 50% of VR users. Though the positive effects of VR activity have been shown in older adults, this self-survey was one of the first that evaluated multiple age groups, from young adults to those over 40.

Mental health was also a factor evaluated, with over 85% of those surveyed saying that VR helped keep their mind occupied during quarantine and nearly 80% claiming that VR had a positive impact on their mental health. The diaspora was almost identical overall age groups surveyed; younger and older gamers alike were more content during the quarantine due to utilizing virtual reality and engaging with a system that combined hand-eye coordination with repetitive muscle movement. This corresponds with long-standing research on VR use in rehabilitating cognitive and mobility disorders after a stroke; the systems' components are designed to engage both the mind and the body.

Though this study was reasonably comprehensive, there's a distinct schism that must be addressed: over 95% of the survey participants were men. This could be due to women not being as active on the websites where the surveys were posted or women not being as engaged with VR. It's been shown in several different studies that, on a biological level, VR headsets are more likely to induce motion sickness in women than in men. This may be due to postural sway; postural sex differences are well-documented, and the different ways of movement to align one’s center of gravity may directly impact their brain’s response to a long car trip or a swaying ship.  Though this effect is something that VR developers seek to fix, and scientists have given ways to do so, this implicit bias in the results should be considered when evaluating the results. If VR does not provide the same benefits to half of the population, there's an inherent flaw in the software's upcoming plans.

What could this mean for the future?

Both authors of this study are excited to see where this information leads. Future pandemics will come in time, and social isolation may be necessary to combat them. The utilization of VR devices as potential public health aids should be made known to policy-makers, healthcare workers, and researchers, they say in their study. A self-administered intervention for physical and mental wellbeing could ease the strain on overburdened healthcare systems.

The coronavirus pandemic led food advertisers to capitalize on more screen-time and fewer ways to engage within a social environment. One study by investment firm Cowen found that food shopping increased by 124% during the pandemic, and take-away food purchasing rose and alcohol sales surged by more than 24%. With obesity on the rise and habitual eating a symptom of abandonment and overwhelming loneliness, health experts are desperate for a way to make us more active.

So next time the gym closes, we may be seeing a different world in our home gyms: that of a headset, a controller, and a virtual way to escape.