Abstract
The advanced technology of virtual reality (VR) has brought about significant changes in our society, and leisure sports are no exception. The purpose of this study was to assess how leisure satisfaction with leisure sports and degree of sustainable participation affect men and women in actual sports and virtual reality (VR) sports. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to confirm scale validity and reliability, and multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression were conducted for comparative analysis and linear relationships between variances. The results showed that while men typically participate in ‘masculine’ sports and women in ‘feminine’ sports, both genders equally enjoy the same types of VR sports. In terms of gender differences, female VR sport participants placed importance on educational leisure satisfaction and the intent of sustainable participation. Interestingly, there were no significant differences in the physical, psychological, or social leisure satisfaction factors, indicating no differences in satisfaction between performing actual sports and those in the VR environment. In addition, all factors except relaxation factor, had a positive impact on intent of sustainable participation. This study implied that VR sports offer an opportunity for people to be together, regardless of gender, and that it is becoming a part of healthy leisure sports culture.
Highlights
The term ‘virtual reality’ first came into use at a time when computer programmer Jaron Lanier was developing helmets and glove interfaces for virtual reality
A total of four groups were formed: (a) men who partake in actual sports; (b) women who participate in actual sports; (c) men who participate in virtual reality (VR) sports; and (d) women who participate in VR sports
The four groups that were designed to fit the purpose of the study were (a) men who participate in actual sports (n = 165, 26.9%); (b) women who participate in actual sports (n = 149, 24.3%); (c) men who participate in VR sports (n = 161, 26.2%), and (d) women who participate in VR sports (n = 139, 22.6%) (Table 1)
Summary
The term ‘virtual reality’ first came into use at a time when computer programmer Jaron Lanier was developing helmets and glove interfaces for virtual reality. VR sports system use advanced technology to integrate motion feedback platforms with actual sports to provide users with the feeling of actual exercise in virtual reality and are expected to offer the considerable benefit of actual exercise effects through immersion [7]. It is popular among athletes in training or rehabilitation to improve their performance, as well as in school gym lessons and leisure [4]. Since the VR leisure sports industry affords anyone the opportunity to participate, it is becoming more widely used among the middle-aged and elderly in addition to young adults in their 20s or 30s
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