Expanding the view of perceptual-cognitive training: The ecological validity of immersive 360° videos evidenced by differences in gaze behavior compared to traditional fixed-screen videos.

While 360° videos have shown promise for enhancing perceptual-cognitive skills in sport, the mechanisms underlying its advantages over traditional video-based training remain unclear. This study tested whether 360° videos promote different visual search strategies compared to traditional fixed screens (FS), and whether these strategies vary based on expertise level. Thirty-six participants (17 highly-trained basketball players, 19 novices) viewed the same 25 basketball video clips in 360° and FS modes while their eye and head movements were recorded by an eye tracker embedded in a head-mounted display. Gaze events were categorized (fixation, saccade, smooth pursuit, visual scanning) and compared using two-way ANOVAs with viewing modality and expertise as factors. Compared to FS, 360° videos elicited more smooth pursuit and visual scanning behaviors (p < 0.001), alongside fewer and shorter visual fixations and saccades (p < 0.001). No main effect of expertise was observed, except novices exhibited larger saccade amplitudes than highly-trained players in the 360° videos modality (p < 0.008). These results indicate that the FS modality promoted fixation-dominant behavior likely driven by the constrained visual environment, whereas the 360° modality afforded a more fluid search strategy, potentially reflecting real-world visual behavior and supporting its higher ecological validity for perceptual-cognitive training.