JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Young adults experience declining physical activity during the transition to adulthood, highlighting the need for engaging and tolerable exercise modalities. Immersive virtual reality (VR) exergaming has emerged as a promising strategy, yet comparative evidence regarding how different VR boxing platforms perform relative to conventional video-based exercise remains limited in terms of physical activity intensity, enjoyment, and cybersickness.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to compare physical activity outcomes, enjoyment, and cybersickness across two immersive VR boxing exergames (Supernatural, FitXR) and conventional video shadowboxing in young adults.

Methods:

Thirty-one undergraduate students (mean age = 19.97 ± 1.02 years; 19 females) completed three 20-minute exercise conditions in a randomized, counterbalanced, within-subject design. Physical activity was measured using wrist-worn accelerometry, with primary outcomes including metabolic equivalents (METs) representing relative energy cost of activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity, and step count. Enjoyment was assessed using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, and cybersickness symptoms were measured using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted to examine differences across conditions, with Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparison for significant main effects.

Results:

No significant differences were observed across exercise conditions for METs, step count, or light physical activity (P > .05). MVPA differed significantly by condition (P = .015), with FitXR eliciting greater MVPA than both Supernatural and conventional video shadowboxing. Despite lower MVPA, Supernatural was rated as significantly more enjoyable (P = .002). Cybersickness symptoms did not differ significantly across conditions (P = .261).

Conclusions:

Acute exercise intensity and enjoyment differed across boxing-based exercise platforms in young adults. FitXR elicited greater time spent in MVPA, whereas Supernatural elicited greater enjoyment despite lower MVPA. Cybersickness symptoms did not differ across conditions, indicating that immersive VR boxing was well tolerated during short-duration exercise sessions. These findings suggest that platform-specific game design features influence whether VR boxing interventions preferentially support higher exercise intensity or greater enjoyment, and that platform selection should align with intervention goals.