Efficacy of a Virtual Environment for Training Ball Passing Skills in Rugby

We have designed a configurable virtual environment to train rugby ball passing skills. Seeking to validate the system’s ability to correctly aid training, two experiments were performed. Ten participants took part in ball passing activities, which were used to compare the combinations of different user positions relative to the physical screen, the use of stereoscopic presentation and the use of a floor screen to extend the field of view of the virtual scene. Conversely to what was expected, the results indicate that the participants did not respond well to simulated target distances, and only the users physical distance from the screen had an effect on the distance thrown.