ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Virtual Real.
Sec. Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1575744
Visual tracking of a moving target in 360-degree virtual reality: Analysis of the effects on attention and mood
Provisionally accepted
Tabea Sellner1*
Paul Ehmann2Jan Spielmann2
Falk Gogolla2,3Ann-Kathrin Rösgen2Jan Mayer2
Mircea Ariel Schoenfeld4,5
Herta Flor1- 1Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- 2TSG Research Lab gGmbH, Zuzenhausen, Germany
- 3Department of Foodinformatics, and Computational Science Hub (CSH), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
- 4Department of Experimental Neurology, University of Magdeburg Medical Center, Magdeburg, Germany
- 5Kliniken Schmieder, Heidelberg, Germany
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The training of attentional capacities is an important part of many rehabilitative efforts, for example, in the treatment of stroke. The Helix-Arena is an innovative virtual reality (VR) training device, which enables a multimodal training in to a 360-degree virtual environment. A pursuit training was developed for the Helix-Arena. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the pursuit training in the Helix-Arena compared to a control group (training on a PC) in 34 healthy participants. The experimental group (EG, N=19) participated in four training sessions in the Helix-Arena over a period of two weeks. The control group (CG, N=15) completed similar training sessions in a non-VR environment on a PC. During each training session, changes in attention (Test of Attentional Performance battery, TAP) and general mood (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS) were assessed pre and post training.In the EG compared to the CG, a significantly higher pre to post improvement was observed for the TAP subtest attention shift in the subcategory invalid instructor (p=.04). In addition we found a higher positive Affect after the Training in the EG and not in the CG (p<.01). These results suggest advantages of the VR environment for attentional and affective processes. The VR training can thus improve not only cognitive abilities but also training motivation. In a next step, the training can be used with patients in a rehabilitation context but it is also suitable for educational and gaming contexts.
Keywords: Pursuit training, virtual reality, Helix-Arena, Attention, general affect
Received: 12 Feb 2025; Accepted: 06 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sellner, Ehmann, Spielmann, Gogolla, Rösgen, Mayer, Schoenfeld and Flor. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tabea Sellner, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, 68159, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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