Transfer Of A Skilled Motor Learning Task Between Virtual And Conventional Environments

Immersive, head-mounted virtual reality (HMD-VR) can be a potentially useful tool for motor rehabilitation. However, it is unclear whether the motor skills learned in HMD-VR transfer to the non-virtual world and vice-versa. Here we used a well-established test of skilled motor learning, the Sequential Visual Isometric Pinch Task (SVIPT), to train individuals in either an HMD-VR or conventional training (CT) environment. Participants were then tested in both environments. Our results show that participants who train in the CT environment have an improvement in motor performance when they transfer to the HMD-VR environment. In contrast, participants who train in the HMD-VR environment show a decrease in skill level when transferring to the CT environment. This has implications for how training in HMD-VR and CT may affect performance in different environments.