AI and Immersive Technologies in Sport: Innovation, Ethics and Equity

AI and immersive technologies (AR, VR, XR) are emerging as the most consequential and least well-charted, frontier in sport. Large language models are reshaping coaching, scouting, athlete education and decision support. Immersive platforms are opening new modalities for skill acquisition, officiating, rehabilitation, fan engagement and inclusive participation. These advances raise urgent questions of governance, ethics, data sovereignty and equitable access that have not yet been addressed coherently in the sports sciences literature.

This Research Topic invites contributions that examine and advance the responsible development, deployment and democratisation of AI and immersive technologies across elite, amateur, recreational and rehabilitative sport settings. We are particularly interested in work bridging laboratory innovation and community impact, including in low- and middle-income contexts.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• AI and large language models in coaching, scouting, athlete education and decision support
• AR, VR and XR applications in skill acquisition, decision-making, officiating and rehabilitation
• Immersive analytics for fan engagement, broadcast innovation and participation
• Responsible AI, data governance, privacy and ethical frameworks in sport
• Equity of access and translation of immersive and AI-driven innovation into community, paediatric and adaptive sport
• Cross-cultural perspectives on AI and XR adoption in sport, with attention to low- and middle-income contexts

We will welcome Original Research, Reviews and Systematic Reviews.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Methods
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Methods
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in Sport, Immersive Technologies (AR/VR/XR), Large Language Models, Sports Innovation, Ethics and Data Governance, Rehabilitation and Skill Acquisition, Equity and Digital Divide, Athletic Performance and Coaching

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.