Immersive virtual reality and augmented virtuality in sport and performance psychology: opportunities, current limitations and practical recommendations

In research on sport and performance psychology, it is essential to capture general behaviors and specific movements as they occur in their natural settings. However, in the past, psychological research has predominantly focused on self-report data during controlled laboratory experiments. By immersing users in a virtual world through a head-mounted display (immersive virtual reality [iVR]) and by incorporating real-world elements into the simulation (augmented virtuality [AV]), researchers have the potential to reintroduce actual behavior to our research. To enhance the current marginal use of these technologies, we highlight their potential and limitations for examining authentic behavior under laboratory conditions. We exemplify these issues with specific examples from research in both sport and performance psychology. Furthermore, practical recommendations are offered to facilitate the integration of iVR and AV, including considerations like covering distance within the virtual environment or augmenting the virtual experience with sport-specific haptic feedback. Finally, we provide specific recommendations for hardware, software, and desirable scientific practices to facilitate the integration of iVR and AV into research projects.