Gait stability in virtual reality: effects of VR display modality in the presence of visual perturbations.
Elizabeth B Wilson, J Stephen Bergquist, W Geoffrey Wright and 1 others
PMID 39985027WHAT IT FOUND
Walking in a VR headset made walking speed, step length, and step time more variable than a projection room, especially with side-to-side visual motion.
In 16 unimpaired young adults, this was a lab effect, not evidence that VR improves balance.
Key findings
01Across VR trials, walking in the headset produced greater variability in walking speed, step length, and step time than walking in the projection room.
02Side-to-side visual perturbations widened steps and reduced lateral stability margin, and this destabilizing effect was greater in the headset.
03After the VR trials, participants walked faster on the treadmill than at baseline, with longer steps and shorter step times.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The participants were 16 unimpaired young adults, so the results may not apply to older adults or patients with balance or gait problems. Walking was measured on a self-paced treadmill with handrails and a safety harness, not overground walking. The study did not directly measure overground walking speed, so treadmill speed changes after VR cannot be fully compared with real-world walking. One participant's Post-VR trial was excluded from an analysis because motion capture data were lost. The design cannot identify which headset or room feature caused the differences, such as field of view, weight, or real-world visual cues. Order effects remain possible because participants experienced both VR systems in the same session.
Declared interests
Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation. The supplied text does not report author conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the greater variability in the headset as proof that VR training improves balance. The study tested 16 unimpaired young adults on a self-paced treadmill, not patients receiving treatment.