Influence of wearing a head-mounted display on the movement execution of basic elements on the balance beam in women's artistic gymnastics.

El objetivo del trabajo fue describir y comparar las características físicas y antropométricas de 25 gimnastas pertenecientes al grupo de tecnificación de la Federación Extremeña de Gimnasia. Estas gimnastas fueron clasificadas según modalidad gimnástica: artística femenina (GAF) (n=13) y gimnasia rítmica (GR) (n=12). Las variables dependientes incluyen valoraciones del porcentaje graso, a través de una báscula electrónica de columna con tallímetro (SECA 220cm); perímetros corporales, a través de un plicómetro (Holtain); diámetros y pruebas específicas de flexibilidad, a través de cinta métrica (CM 3m); frecuencia cardíaca, a través del test de Ruffier y uso de pulsómetro (Polar F6); fuerza isométrica del tren inferior, donde se utilizó una célula de carga (SSMAJ 5000N), y la capacidad de salto, a través de una plataforma de contacto (Lafayette CVP A73). Los resultados concluyen que GAF obtiene mejor resultado en las pruebas de flexibilidad (p<.05). Además, el grupo GR cuanto menor porcentaje graso posee mayor capacidad de salto SJ (r=-.774; p<.01) y CMJ (r=-.600; p<.05). En cambio, el grupo GAF cuanto mayor índice de masa corporal menor es su flexibilidad (p<.01). Se concluye que existen diferencias en composición corporal y pruebas físicas entre las modalidades gimnásticas femeninas de artística y rítmica, además de encontrar relaciones entre el rendimiento de dichas pruebas y variables antropométricas. Palabra clave: gimnasia, características antropométricas, flexibilidad, fuerza isométrica, salto.Abstract: The aim of our research was to describe the physical and anthropometric characteristics of 25 gymnasts from the talent identification program of the Extremeña Gymnastics Federation. Subjects were classified according to their specialty: women‘s artistic gymnastic (WAG) and rhythmic gymnastics (RG). The dependent variables include body fat percentage through an electronic scale column with stadiometer (SECA 220cm); body circumferences through a plicometer (Holtain); body diameters and specific tests of flexibility through a tape (CM 3m); a heart rate through Ruffier test and a heart rate monitor (Polar F6); isometric strength of lower extremities through a load cell (SSMAJ 5000N); and jumping ability through a contact mat (Lafayette CVP A73). The results concluded that the WAG group got the best results in flexibility tests (p<.05). Also, the RG group had lower body fat percentage and greater SJ jump ability (r=-.774; p<.01) and CMJ (r=-.600; p<.05). However, the WAG group showed a negative relation between body mass index and flexibility (p<.01). We conclude that there are differences in body composition and physical tests between the specialties/styles of women’s artistic gymnastics and female rhythmic gymnastics; we also found relationships between the performance of such tests and anthropometric variables.Key words: gymnastics, anthropometric characteristics, flexibility, isometric strength, jump.

Nassib, SH, Mkaouer, B, Riahi, SH, Wali, SM, and Nassib, S. Prediction of gymnastics physical profile through an international program evaluation in women artistic gymnastics. J Strength Cond Res 34(2): 577-586, 2020-The purpose of this study was to investigate the most appropriate aptitudes for top-level sporting results to identify physical profile of talent identified women's artistic gymnastics (WAG). Forty-eight women's artistic gymnasts in the provincial team (age 11.12 ± 1.22 years; height 1.35 ± 0.04 m; body mass 28.5 ± 4.04 kg) voluntarily participated in this study. Anthropometrics measures and the WAG battery physical tests were used to ensure a systematic approach for the WAG development worldwide. The present findings revealed that the strength (static strength, speed strength, and endurance strength), power and flexibility seem to be important and essential for good performance. Another characteristic that emerged from the results of the physical domain is coordination. This motor skill may seem relevant to gymnastics, they are applicable to the gymnasts' ability to perform all apparatus and more generally they relate to the ability to accurately perform whole-body skills supported by the leg on the floor, balance beam, and vault. Therefore, athletic performance can be boosted using combination of several characteristics that seems to be important for an elite gymnast. This reinforcing the view that systematic approach for the development and mufti-dimensional profile seems promising.

Artistic gymnastics is a sport comprising a variety of movements performed on apparatus, connected by the art of movement. The Code of Points is a document that brings together all the rules of this sport; it guides the work of coaches and gymnasts, helping to compose the routines presented in competitions. This study focuses on women's artistic gymnastics and the implementation of its rules, established by the Code of Points 2013-2016. It aims to analyze the elements that composed the gymnasts' routines during the last Olympic Games (Rio 2016) and identify the possible technical relations between the composition of the balance beam and the floor exercises in line with the current Code. For this purpose, we carried out a video analysis of 82 balance beam routines and 82 floor exercise routines, in total 164 routines performed by athletes competing in women's artistic gymnastics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifying competition. We observed that the Code of Points is still little explored, and gymnasts use only a few of the elements available. In this sense, the International Gymnastics Federation and, more specifically, the Code of Points, which regulates the sport, should devise strategies for better usage of the elements available within the stipulated rules.

In recent years, media coverage of women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) has increased immensely. On the one hand, a reason for this is its rising popularity in many countries; tickets for international championships sell out quickly, and TV ratings also indicate that WAG enjoys a large, stable fan base. On the other hand, WAG has stirred enormous controversy. The conviction of Larry Nassar, the US gymnastics team doctor, for sexually abusing female gymnasts, and the suicide of the team's former coach, John Geddert, generated both increased public awareness of the sometimes problematic coach–athlete relationship in this sport and a new, stronger self-confidence among athletes to come forward and resist sexism and violence.Against that backdrop, scholarly research on the historical and sociocultural dimensions of WAG has also intensified. This anthology, edited by Rosly Kerr, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Carly Stewart, and Gretchen Kerr, not only summarizes the results of this research but also adds significant new insights from a variety of perspectives. The book uses an interdisciplinary approach and draws on contributions from a variety of fields, among them sociology, history, and psychology. It seeks to embed developments in WAG into larger trends characteristic of other sports as well, such as globalization and scientification. Moreover, next to such macro-perspectives, many essays highlight the micro-interactions between the different actors involved in gymnastics and how agency and power relations were and are negotiated under changing circumstances.The collection is divided into four sections; combined, they “explore WAG's many complexities: the sport's unique history, the individual experiences of gymnasts, the complicated coach–athlete relationship and the wider actors that affect the practice of gymnastics” (1–2). A main premise for the volume, and hence the focus of Section 1, is how notions of gender in general and femininity in particular have been articulated over the course of WAG's history. Essays in this part outline the development of WAG since the 1952 Olympic Games and stress processes of acrobatization, perfectionization, and commercialization. Together, they underscore a paradoxical constellation, as WAG historically celebrated women and femininity in a sport based on the biomechanically optimized bodies of girls.Section 2 zeroes in on the gymnasts’ experiences. Essays here listen to the voices of individual athletes and how they struggled with the intense training demands of WAG, with controlling and often sexualizing gazes of spectators, coaches, or judges, or with their own body-self perceptions. A contribution authored by Ashley Stirling, Alexia Tam, Aalaya Milne, and Gretchen Kerr is of particular interest; it analyzes the media narratives of gymnasts’ abusive experiences and asks whether “the broader effects of the #MeToo movement will . . . help to ensure the athletes’ voices are heard this time” (95).The third section revolves around coach–athlete relationships. The often large age difference between male coaches and their very young athletes suggests a strong male dominance in a sport that seeks to highlight femininity and questions whether girls can grow up to become independent characters. As the essays in this part point out, the complexities of coach–athlete relationships in WAG even reach beyond this most obvious aspect. As Melanie Lang and Joanne McVeigh remind readers in their essay, regardless of whether the coach is male or female, touching athletes in order to assist them with learning new skills is a central element in training that reduces options for protecting athletes from possible abuse that would work in other sports. The final section of the book brings in parents, sports scientists, physicians, judges, and technology—the personal and infrastructural environment that shapes WAG. As becomes evident, this surrounding network of influences often has highly ambivalent consequences, ranging from substantial support of the athlete to increasing her disempowerment.Women's Artistic Gymnastics is a valuable contribution to the study of female sport in general and gymnastics in particular. Its fourteen original scholarly essays—plus an introduction and a conclusion—cover a broad spectrum of historical, sociological, psychological, medical, and media-related issues from several theoretical and methodological perspectives and, hence, enriches our understanding of a complex sport. What makes this collection even more interesting is its willingness to engage in experimentation: each of the four sections of the book opens with a brief piece of fictional writing authored by James Pope, narrating the story of an imaginary character named Jenny and her ambivalent experiences within the world of WAG. Certainly, some readers will find that somewhat odd for a scholarly publication, and some might also question whether hiring a male writer to fictionalize the inner thoughts of a female athlete is a good idea. But the experiment of using fiction as a tool to highlight subjectivity is stimulating; Pope's “Jenny's Story” often works well, especially with those essays that stress the importance of the gymnasts’ own point of view.

Gymnastic skills on a balance beam with simulated height

The objective of this study was to investigate the physiological indices of competitive routines in women's artistic gymnastics by characterizing post-exercise heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO2) and peak blood lactate concentration (Lmax) in a group of eight young elite-oriented female gymnasts. HR was continuously monitored with Polar RS400 monitors during the test event simulating a competition environment. Within 5 s of the end of each routine, the breath-by-breath gas analyser mask was placed on the face to record VO2. VO2max was calculated by the backward extrapolation method of the VO2 recovery curve. Lmax was obtained during recovery (min 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10) subsequent to each event. One week later, HR, VO2 and Lmax were measured during an incremental continuous treadmill test. The treadmill test was confirmed as the assessment with the highest physiological demand. The gymnasts reached their highest values of HR (183-199 beats · min-1), VO2/Bm (33-44 ml · kg-1 · min-1) and Lmax (7-9 mmol · l-1) in the floor and uneven bars exercises. The vault was the event with the lowest HR (154-166 beats · min-1) and Lmax (2.4-2.6 mmol · l-1), and the balance beam had the lowest VO2 (27-35 ml · kg-1 · min-1). The mean relative peak intensities attained in the different events, which ranged from 65 to 85% of the individual VO2max and HRmax recorded in the laboratory, suggest that cardiorespiratory and metabolic demands are higher than previously indicated. The high percentage of VO2 measured, particularly after the floor event, suggests that aerobic power training should not be neglected in women's artistic gymnastics.

Background: In the present study, the main goal was to establish whether the disciplines are equal and should the Code of Points (COP) women's artistic gymnastics be revised in terms of point standardization on apparatus. Material and methods: The sample included all-around senior female gymnasts who participated in the qualification (C-I) competitions at World Championships held in 2009-2019. Results: The biggest differences are even two points between the two apparatus vault and balance beam. Vault compared to other apparatus is different for 1.559 points. Presentation of correlations between each apparatus the evidence that nothing has changed significantly in recent years, whereas correlations of the difficulty values of elements are extremely high between the present COP. Conclusions: With this analysis, we have found that the results achieved at the vault and other apparatus were significantly different in terms of success in all-around competition.

To resolve the contradiction between large field of view and high resolution in immersive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs), an HMD monocular optical system with a large field of view and high resolution was designed. The system was fabricated by adopting aspheric technology with CNC grinding and a high-resolution LCD as the image source. With this monocular optical system, an HMD binocular optical system with a wide-range continuously adjustable interpupillary distance was achieved in the form of partially overlapping fields of view (FOV) combined with a screw adjustment mechanism. A fast image processor-centered LCD driver circuit and an image preprocessing system were also built to address binocular vision inconsistency in the partially overlapping FOV binocular optical system. The distortions of the HMD optical system with a large field of view were measured. Meanwhile, the optical distortions in the display and the trapezoidal distortions introduced during image processing were corrected by a calibration model for reverse rotations and translations. A high-performance not-fully-transparent VR HMD device with high resolution (1920×1080) and large FOV [141.6°(H)×73.08°(V)] was developed. The full field-of-view average value of angular resolution is 18.6 pixels/degree. With the device, high-quality VR simulations can be completed under various scenarios, and the device can be utilized for simulated trainings in aeronautics, astronautics, and other fields with corresponding platforms. The developed device has positive practical significance.

This study examines research conducted by both domestic and international scholars on the training processes of gymnasts across various disciplines. The primary objective is to identify the characteristics of bioenergetic support influencing gymnastic performance. Contemporary research suggests that an athlete's physical capacity is contingent upon several factors, including the nature of motor activity performed during training drills, age, gender, and competitive experience. Statistical analysis demonstrates that drill duration in men's artistic gymnastics ranges from 5 seconds (vault) to 70 seconds (floor exercise), while women's routines vary between 5 seconds (vault) and 90 seconds (balance beam and floor exercise). Callisthenic drills require significantly more time, with duration ranging from 90 seconds (individual events) to 150 seconds (group events). Gymnastic training encompasses a wide age range, typically from 4 to 20 years, most commonly between 9 and 16 years. Notably, many female gymnasts reach their competitive peak during their mid-to-late teens, while males typically peak around 20 years old. The research indicates a proportional increase in training duration and intensity alongside age and competitive level. Studies investigating energy consumption in male artistic gymnasts reveal the highest consumption during floor exercises, followed by vault, still rings, horizontal bar, and parallel bars. Similarly, floor exercise consumes the most energy in women's artistic gymnastics, followed by bars, balance beam, and vault. Furthermore, research suggests that anaerobic energy support dominates during vault, pommel horse, parallel bars, and still rings exercises, while aerobic mechanisms underpin floor exercises and callisthenics. Notably, oxidative metabolism appears to have minimal direct impact on competitive callisthenic performance but plays a crucial role in glycogen conservation during extended, intensive training sessions for elite female gymnasts.

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

The rapid advances in computing and communications are dramatically changing all aspects of our lives. In particular, sophisticated 3D visualization, display, and interaction technologies are being used to complement our familiar physical world with computer-generated augmentations. These new interaction and display techniques are expected to make our work, learning, and leisure environments vastly more efficient and appealing. Within different application areas, variants of these technologies are currently being pursued in research and development efforts. Virtual Reality (VR) attempts to provide to the user a sense of spatial presence (visual, auditory, and tactile) inside computer-generated synthetic environments. Opaque head-mounted displays (HMDs) have been the traditional VR output devices for many years. A general characteristics of today’s HMDs, however, is their imbalanced ratio between heavy optics (that results in cumbersome and uncomfortable devices) and ergonomic devices with a low image quality (i.e., low resolution, small field of view and fixed focal length). To overcome some of their technological and ergonomic shortcomings and to open new application areas, the Virtual Reality community orients itself more and more away from HMDs, towards projection-based spatial displays such as immersive surround screen displays and semi-immersive embedded screen displays. Compared to HMDs, these new devices offer many advantages (e.g., a high and scalable resolution, a large and extendable field of view, an easier eye accommodation, a lower incidence of discomfort due to simulator sickness, light-weight glasses, etc.). In addition, many of them have particular characteristics (such as shape and size) that lend themselves for being employed as metaphors for application-specific functionality, thus making them easier to integrate into our everyday environments. Good examples for this are semi-immersive workbenches whose horizontal display surface lends itself towards supporting a table metaphor for the corresponding Virtual Reality setup. Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes computer-generated graphics onto the user's view of the real world. In contrast to VR, AR allows virtual and real objects to coexist within the same space. Video see-through and optical see-through HMDs are the traditional output technologies, and are still the display devices that are mainly used for Augmented Reality applications. A reorientation of the AR community towards an alternative display technology has not yet happened. Most of the developments and progress made so far are based on very specific applications and technology-tailored employment scenarios. The majority of AR achievements has found few real-world applications. This can partially be attributed to the underlying core technology of AR - including its display devices. As for many other technological domains, AR needs to provide sufficient robustness, functionality and flexibility to find acceptance and to support its seamless integration into our well-established living environments. For instance, many of our real-world items, devices, and tools are developed and tuned for effectively addressing distinct and problem-specific tasks. In contrast to this, many AR applications address specific problems still on an all-purpose technological basis - making use of technologically stagnating devices. A high demand on alternative display technologies exists that improve the shortcomings of traditional devices and open new application areas for AR. Head-attached displays have first been developed in the mid-sixties and still today own the display monopole in AR field. In contrast to VR technology, however, they have barely improved over the previous years and are still far away from being “ultimate displays“. The presented projection-based AR (PBAR) concept aims to combine the technological and ergonomic advantages of the well established projection-based Virtual Reality with the application potentials of Augmented Reality. Thus, it strives for opening new application areas for AR. It proposes -taking pattern from the evolution of VR- to detach the display technology from the user to embed it into the real environment instead. However, it is not intended to substitute other display concepts, such as head-attached displays, but rather to present an application-specific alternative. This thesis introduces the projection-based AR concept, presents proof-of-concept prototypes, explaines interactive rendering techniques for PBAR displays, and describes appropriate interaction techniques and applications for PBAR devices.

Virtual reality (VR) systems can generate environments that do not exist or are difficult to access. State-of-the-art VR is rapidly evolving and has resulted in enhanced user experience, which leads to a completely immersive experience. Advances in high-resolution displays and highly powerful computer graphics hardware drive the most substantial advancement in VR, which is the introduction of low-cost consumer-grade head-mounted displays (HMD). Despite being inexpensive and providing a high-quality VR experience, commonly used HMDs have a limited field of view, and giving multiple people access to the same virtual environment is inherently challenging. CAVE™ Automated Virtual Environments (CAVE) have benefitted from the same advances in computer graphics hardware and from improvements to binocular (stereo) projection technology, which has reduced the cost and complexity of such systems and increased the visual display quality (resolution, colour, frame rate, etc.). Unlike in HMDs, in a CAVE tracking system, interaction technologies and audio are distinct sub-systems that need to be designed to achieve the desired purpose. A designer needs to consider applications to be used in CAVE and optimise performance. In this paper, we present the design specifications of a reconfigurable CAVE-like VR system that incorporates 6-degree-of-freedom haptic interaction and 3D ambisonic audio. The system was designed for the Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training, VR Lab, at Deakin University. Future directions and different use cases along with a comparison matrix are presented to highlight the advantages of the presented system over other existing VR technologies.

女子競技體操是難與美兼併的一種高難競技運動，比賽規則導引該運動達到完美的境界，為了瞭解女子競技體操運動的整套動作之結構編配與觀賞性價值之關係，本文透過文獻分析，瞭解女子競技體操運動之整套動作的難、美、新、穩結構編配，影響觀賞性價值的高低；本文的目的指出高難度與創新動作的完美表現是獲得高分的關鍵，規則規定了藝術性評分，觀眾和裁判欣賞了力量和技術構成的創新編配，同時得到藝術上的享受，這就是觀賞性價值的展現；但規則指出必須在規定的時間內完成，以及規定動作的數量內完成，這對選手而言是極大的挑戰，因此一套高難度、新穎、賦予美感以及符合個人獨特風格的編配動作，方能提昇觀賞性價值。整套動作的結構編配內容分為D分（內容）與E分（完成），E分值之起評分為10.000分，D分無上限，包括難度價值、編排要求和連接價值加分，而規則的制定則牽動整體觀賞性價值。

Many virtual reality, mixed reality, and telepresence applications use head mounted displays (HMD). HMD systems are portable and can display stereoscopic images. However, the field of view (FOV) of commercial HMD systems is too narrow for conveying the feeling of immersion. The horizontal FOV is typically around 60°, significantly narrower than that of the human eye. In this paper, we propose new display optics for a super wide FOV head mounted display. The proposed optics consists of an ellipsoidal and a hyperboloidal mirror that will display distortionless images by using the characteristics of the mirrors, even if the image has a large FOV. We constructed a prototype HMD system with a 180° horizontal × 60° vertical FOV that includes the peripheral vision of the human eye. The FOV has a 60° × 60° overlap area that can display stereoscopic images. We estimated the resolution, focus, and aberration of the prototype in an optical simulation and experimentally confirmed that the prototype displays distortionless wide FOV images.

This paper is meant to reveal the content of e-Learning and transfer technology of the key elements of sports technique of acrobatic exercises on floor in women's artistic gymnastics. This scientific approach has led to an ascertaining experimental study that has used the following research methods: 1. Analysis of methodical-scientific literature. 2. Video recording of gymnastics exercises. Use of computerized programs: "Pinnacle Studio", "Kinovea" and "Physics ToolKit". 3. Postural method of movement orientation. 4. Statistical method, by means of "KyPlot" computerized program. The research was conducted from 16th to 18th of November 2012 in the town of One?ti, during the Master Romanian Championship attended by 8 athletes aged 12 -14 years; all of them are components of the Romanian national junior team. Results. Highlighting and identification of the biomechanical characteristics of sports technique key elements (LP - body launching posture, MP - multiplication of body posture, flight maximum height and CP - concluding body posture - landing) of acrobatic exercises in women's artistic gymnastics at the level of juniors aged 12 to 14; the efficient use of e-learning and transfer technology that deepens the understanding of the phasic structure of sports technique will allow the processing of the modern training programs for their learning. Conclusions. The use of modern research methods for the video computerized analysis of sports technique key elements of the acrobatic exercises on floor in women's artistic gymnastics is also the basis for the measurement, analysis and assessment of the kinematic and dynamic structure in other sports branches with complex coordination exercises.