VR games help burn calories as good as gymnastics

Virtual reality is good not only for scientific and industrial fields. It is also great entertainment - yes, of course, this is about games and video content. Good helmets and other accessories are capable of providing almost complete immersion in VR, where a person is left to himself and sees nothing at all around him.



Moreover, if ordinary video and computer games require the use of only the head and hands, then VR requires the full participation of the person. In the sense that the player must move. Here you do not sit out in front of the computer screen, clicking on the mouse and keyboard buttons, even if it is allowed very quickly. According to representatives of VR-igrostroy, players have to use their hands, body, in general, everything that we use in ordinary reality. The energy at the same time a person spends much more than when he plays a regular computer or video game.



Some users of VR devices, if they play often, even manage to lose weight. Scientists, having noticed this phenomenon, decided to find out why this is exactly what is happening.





Now one of the institutions in San Francisco is studying the activity of a person who plays a game in virtual reality. The project team is trying to figure out how much a player can burn calories per minute of the game.



It is clear that this indicator largely depends on the game itself and on the level of difficulty passing. In order to provide the necessary accuracy for their research, experts made several assumptions. The first is that players will not be distracted by the world around them, but will focus on the game itself. In addition, another assumption is that the volunteers will not miss the necessary movements during the game, but will follow all the instructions. The player in the process of activity was monitored in order to find out whether the volunteer adhered to the rules established by the researchers.



The assessment of the human body is based on the metabolic rate. As it turned out, during a game in VR, a person spends more calories than just sitting in front of a computer screen (which is logical). Among other things, the researchers compared the level of activity of a VR gamer during a game with the activity of training in the gym, swimming or performing other complex tasks. As a result, the authors of the study tried to standardize their observations, reducing the observed level of activity to a number of indicators that game developers for VR can use, for example. As a result, on the box with the game can be stated that "1 hour of hunting monsters in our game is comparable to half an hour swimming in the pool."







It is also worth remembering that the subjects did not have to master the game entirely - instead, volunteers went through certain elements of the game levels. Peak activity indicators were recorded and, after processing on a computer, were reduced to a single system that allowed an objective assessment of the calorie burning level during the game. In some cases, the tests were carried out twice to ensure the required accuracy of measurements.



The researchers tried to estimate the level of energy costs of a person for already existing games. For example, running Superhot VR, a gamer was spending 2-4 kilocalories per minute. This is comparable to a normal walk. Audioshield required a human cost of 10 kilocalories per minute. By energy consumption, the game was equated to rowing. At the moment, the game Thrill of the Fight is one of the most energy-intensive for users. Taking part in a virtual match, the player spends about 15 kilocalories per minute. And this is really a lot. For comparison, you can stand on the treadmill and see how many calories will be spent on the most complex mode.



Perhaps you can imagine that the champions of games in virtual reality will look like athletes. And the parents of children and teenagers will no longer say that “you are full, because you sit at the computer all day”. On the contrary, there will be phrases like “Have a little rest, eat, stop playing these virtual players, and as thin as a chip!”. Well, each time has its own characteristics. To each his own.