虛擬綠色運動效益之探索—高齡者生心效益和運動表現之評估

Abstract

綠色運動概念指出，於自然環境中運動可以提升積極情緒、注意力和降低負面情緒，進而提升身心健康。然而，運動地點常因距離、天氣等因素受限，影響人們於自然環境運動的機會。如今虛擬實境克服時間及空間的限制，使人們能夠隨時觀賞自然景觀，為不便移動的高齡者提供新的運動方式。此外，過去研究顯示情緒及注意力對運動表現極為重要，如焦慮、沮喪等負面情緒會導致運動表現較差，運動時間較短；注意力不集中對運動表現亦會帶來負面的影響。但是過去綠色運動研究較少針對運動表現深入探討。故本研究建構三種不同自然程度之虛擬場景，配合虛擬實境科技與人工智慧影像辨識技術，探討自然環境對於高齡者虛擬運動之健康效益、運動表現及虛擬體驗的效益及關連性，評估其可行性。 近年來人工智能技術可有效幫助運動表現之研究，包括動作捕捉、動作分析及虛擬教練的設計，使運動數據分析更為精確。因此本研究先以Twinmotion建立虛擬場景，再利用Rokoko與Cascadeur製作虛擬太極拳老師，使受測者於三種場景進行太極拳虛擬運動。研究共收集32位高齡受測者，採隨機平均分配後重複測量，每次體驗評估其心跳變異率、簡式心情狀態量表、數字廣度測試、知覺恢復性量表、疲勞感知量表、虛擬情境暈眩量表及短版沉浸感問卷。在虛擬運動過程中，架設攝影機記錄再以MediaPipe進行動作次數及動作精準度分析，最後透過半結構式訪談了解其對虛擬環境與體驗之感受。 結果顯示，虛擬運動後受測者之心情狀態和注意力皆有顯著提升，且自然場景之注意力恢復效益顯著高於室內場景。此外，正向心情狀態和注意力的提升可增加動作次數；而高沉浸感可提升正面情緒和心跳變異率；動暈症越嚴重，注意力越低，運動疲勞越高，動作次數越低；運動時間越長，注意力越高，執行動作次數越多，表示虛擬體驗對心理、生理健康與運動表現有正向影響，可提高運動效益。

The concept of green exercise suggests that exercising in natural environments can enhance positive emotions, improve concentration, and reduce negative emotions, thereby improving physical and mental health. However, factors such as distance and weather often limit access to natural environments for exercise. Virtual reality (VR) technology can overcome these limitations, allowing people to experience natural landscapes anytime and providing a new way of exercising for the elderly with mobility issues. Past studies have shown that emotions and attention are crucial for exercise performance. Negative emotions like anxiety and depression lead to poorer performance, shorter exercise duration, and reduced limb extension. However, research on green exercise has rarely focused on exercise performance in depth. Therefore, this study constructed three virtual scenarios with varying levels of naturalness: forest, urban park, and indoor. Using VR and Artificial Intelligence (AI) image recognition technology, the study examined the health benefits, exercise performance, and virtual experience of elderly participants in these environments, evaluating the feasibility of VR exercise.The study aimed to: 1) Compare the psychophysical benefits, exercise performance, and virtual experience of virtual exercise in different environments. 2) Explore the correlation between the psychophysical benefits, exercise performance, and virtual experience of VR exercise. Recent advancements in AI technology have significantly improved the study of sports performance, including motion capture, analysis, and virtual trainer design, making sports data analysis more accurate. This study used computer software to create virtual scenes and employed AI software such as Rokoko and Cascadeur to create virtual Tai Chi instructors. Participants performed virtual Tai Chi exercises in different scenarios. The study involved 32 elderly subjects from the New Taipei city Minquan Community Development Association and the Yilan County Fucheng Community Development Association, randomly assigned to different groups. Heart rate variability was measured before and after the VR exercise experience, and participants completed various scales, including the Short Form of the Profile of Mood States, Digit Span, Perceptual Recovery Scale, Borg Scale, Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire, and Immersive Tendencies Questionnaire to assess the benefits of the experience. Cameras recorded the exercise process, and MediaPipe was used to analyze movement count and accuracy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand participants' perceptions of the environment and VR experience. Results showed that emotional state and attention significantly improved after VR exercise, with perceptual recovery benefits higher in natural scenes than indoor ones. Additionally, improvements in mood state and attention can increase the number of movements. High levels of immersion were associated with enhanced positive emotions and heart rate variability. Conversely, the more severe the motion sickness, the lower the attention and the higher the exercise fatigue, resulting in fewer movements performed. The longer the exercise duration, the higher the attention and the greater the number of movements. This indicates that VR experiences can positively impact psychological and physiological health and exercise performance, enhancing exercise effectiveness.