Immersive virtual reality exercise prompts more positive affective valence and enjoyment compared to traditional exercise: a meta analysis of clinical trials

Introduction Immersive virtual reality (VR) exercise games are designed to promote an enjoyable experience and prompt positive affective valence and have gained rapid mainstream popularity. Nonetheless, a comprehensive synthesis of research is presently lacking.Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis entailed a comparison of the acute effects of immersive VR exercise with traditional (i.e. non-VR exercise) on enjoyment and affective valence. We also explored potential moderators (i.e. age, sex and exercise duration).Methods We searched five databases (Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science) from inception to 24 May 2024 for studies that measured enjoyment and affective valence in response to traditional and immersive VR exercise. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed, calculating standardised mean differences (SMD) for enjoyment and affective valence between traditional and immersive VR exercise sessions.Results Eleven studies were included (n = 330, Mage = 25 years, 68% women). All studies were crossover randomised clinical trials. Immersive VR resulted in a large effect on exercise enjoyment (k = 11, SMD = 1.452; 95%CI [0.993, 1.910]; p < 0.001) and a moderate difference on affective valence (k = 4, SMD = 0.624; 95%CI [0.405, 0.841]; p < 0.001) compared to traditional exercise. Age (Coefficient = 0.015; 95%CI [-0.106, 0.138]; p = 0.799; R2=0.00), sex (Coefficient = 0.026; 95%CI [-0.004, −0.056]; p = 0.093; R2=0.28) and exercise duration (Coefficient = 0.047; 95%CI [-0.017, 0.111]; p = 0.149; R2=0.21) did not moderate the effects of enjoyment.Conclusion The findings indicated that immersive VR technology can prompt more positive in-task ratings of affective valence and post-task ratings of enjoyment compared to traditional exercise.