Towards an Understanding of Situated AR Visualization for Basketball Free-Throw Training

TL;DR

This study compares co-located and situated AR visualizations in basketball free-throw training, revealing that real-time AR feedback improves shot consistency and focus on body form, offering insights for future AR sports training system design.

Contribution

It provides an empirical comparison of situated and co-located AR visualizations in sports training, highlighting their effects on performance and user experience.

Findings

AR feedback improves shot angle consistency

AR visualization increases focus on body form

Real-time visual feedback aids skill refinement

Abstract

We present an observational study to compare co-located and situated real-time visualizations in basketball free-throw training. Our goal is to understand the advantages and concerns of applying immersive visualization to real-world skill-based sports training and to provide insights for designing AR sports training systems. We design both a situated 3D visualization on a head-mounted display and a 2D visualization on a co-located display to provide immediate visual feedback on a player's shot performance. Using a within-subject study design with experienced basketball shooters, we characterize user goals, report on qualitative training experiences, and compare the quantitative training results. Our results show that real-time visual feedback helps athletes refine subsequent shots. Shooters in our study achieve greater angle consistency with our visual feedback. Furthermore, AR visualization promotes an increased focus on body form in athletes. Finally, we present suggestions for the design of future sports AR studies.