Immersive Virtual Reality vs Treadmill Exercise Project

NCT ID: NCT07213388

Last Updated: 2026-01-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 61 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-10-22

Brief Summary

The purpose of this research project is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual reality-based physical activity (VRPA) intervention for inactive adults compared to more traditional forms of physical activity. The project will explore the relationship between VRPA engagement and cognition, biological measures (calories burned, heart rate, and active minutes), rate of perceived exertion, flow, affect, and enjoyment in physical activity as well.

Detailed Description

The feasibility and acceptability of a Virtual Reality Physical Activity (VRPA) intervention will be examined. VRPA will be compared with more traditional modes of physical activity (e.g., walking on a treadmill) with regard to physical biomarkers (i.e., heart rate, calories burned, active minutes), flow state (i.e., Flow Short Scale), cognition (e.g., Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Digital version of the WRAML-2 Symbolic Working Memory Test-Part 1, and Digital Backward Digit Span), affect (e.g., Activation-Deactivation Adjective List and DASS-21), perceived exertion (e.g., Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion and one question regarding how hard they think they will exert themselves), willingness (i.e., to pay, intent to engage in physical activity), and physical enjoyment (i.e., Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale).

1. Recruit and enroll 60 participants

a. Participants will be recruited through the SONA system (i.e., student pool for collecting psychological research), word-of-mouth, email lists, flyers, and online classified ads

2. Participants will be screened to ensure they meet the inclusion criteria

3. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions (VR, Treadmill + Music, Sitting + Music)

4. Participants will complete baseline measures a. Demographic information will be collected (e.g., ethnicity, height, weight, experience with exergames, current physical activity, physical activity readiness) b. Participants will: i. Complete the following surveys

1. Cognition 2. Affect 3. How hard do they think they will exert themselves 4. Willingness ii. Get the following measurements taken:

1. Heart Rate (HR) 6. Participants will engage in a warm-up/acclimation period on either the VR exergame or treadmill condition 7. Participants will engage in exercise for 20-30 minutes in the VR/treadmill condition, or sit quietly listening to music (control condition)

1. HR will be measured during all 3 conditions

2. The treadmill condition will be configured to a level that allows participants to engage in comfortable conversation while experiencing some breathlessness (i.e., brisk/moderate pace) 8. Post-exercise/sitting, participants will

a. Complete the following surveys: i. Feasibility ii. Acceptability iii. Cognition iv. Flow v. Affect vi. Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) vii. Willingness viii. Physical Enjoyment b. Get the following measurements taken: i. Heart Rate ii. Calories burned

Conditions

Control; Virtual Reality Physical Activity; Treadmill

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Control

Participants will sit quietly while listening to the same music playlist that is played during the VRPA condition.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Control

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Effects of music while sitting on outcomes

Treadmill

Participants will walk on a treadmill while listening to the same playlist that is played during the VRPA condition.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Treadmill

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Effects of treadmill walking with music on outcomes

Virtual Reality Physical Activity (VRPA)

Participants will wear the VR headset and complete one pre-selected exercise session.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

VRPA

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Effects of virtual reality physical activity on outcomes

Interventions

VRPA

Effects of virtual reality physical activity on outcomes

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Treadmill

Effects of treadmill walking with music on outcomes

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Control

Effects of music while sitting on outcomes

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Be inactive (i.e., do not meet physical activity guidelines)

2. have no current neurological, psychiatric, sensory, or motor impairment, and normal or corrected-to-normal vision (only thin wire glasses or contacts can be used)

3. have no history of motion sickness

4. have the ability to exercise based on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) (Warburton et al., 2019)

5. Have not fallen to the point of injury in the last 6 months.

6. Be willing to wear an activity tracker

7. 18-64 years,

2. Struggle to use operate a VR headset

3. Cannot read

4. Have concerns about balance/falling while using a VR headset,

5. Unable to provide informed consent

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 64 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Rowan University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Bethany Raiff

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Rowan University

Glassboro, New Jersey, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

PRO-2023-123

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id