Investigating Changes in Hand-Eye Coordination and Reaction Time Using a VR Squash Simulation

Hand-eye coordination and reaction time are essential for many sports and are associated with cognitive health. Training hand-eye coordination is hence important but can be limited by lack of equipment, suitable facilities, instructors, or training partners. In this research, we have designed a VR squash game for training hand-eye coordination at home, and we investigate users’ perceptions of the tool and how it compares with traditional training.A user study with 30 participants shows that our application is significantly more enjoyable (P = 0.031) than the control group activity and that users perceive the tool as similarly effective in improving hand-eye coordination as non-game training activities. While we didn’t perform a longitudinal study investigating the effectiveness of the training, our results are important since enjoyment and perceived usefulness are essential for long-term usage.