Feasibility of Training Elite Athletes for Improving their Mental Imagery Ability Using Virtual Reality

The goal of imagery training for athletes is to create realistic images in their minds and to familiarize them with certain procedures, environments, and other aspects related to competition. Traditional imagery training methods use still images or videos, and athletes study the pictures or watch the videos in order to mentally rehearse. However, factors such as distractions and low realism can affect the training quality. In this paper, we present a VR solution and a study that explores our hypotheses that 1) high-fidelity VR systems improve mental imagery skills, and that 2) the presence of elements such as an audience or photographers in the VR environment result in better mental imagery skill improvement.