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Bodily sports activities have lengthy been identified to assist with anxiousness and psychological well being. However can augmented and digital actuality sports activities video games enhance psychological well-being and scale back loneliness? Researchers at Michigan State College’s Division of Kinesiology say sure.
Assistant professors Sanghoon Kim and Sangchul Park, at MSU’s School of Schooling, led a research to discover layered questions on the psychological advantages of utilizing augmented/digital actuality, or AR/VR, know-how.
Printed within the Worldwide Journal of Human-Pc Interplay, the research exhibits that taking part in AR/VR sports activities video games can promote psychological well-being by serving to gamers really feel related to others and interact in real-time communication. Extra apparently, the optimistic results of feeling socially current had been even stronger for these experiencing loneliness.
“These findings remind us that psychological well-being is multifaceted,” mentioned Kim and Park, each lead authors on the research. “Even in gaming, it’s shaped not only by what people experience in virtual environments, but also by how those experiences connect with their real-life relationships and social ties.”
Methodology
The research analyzed outcomes from a survey of 345 people who performed numerous AR/VR sports activities video games, similar to desk tennis, bowling or billiards. These video games may be discovered on platforms like Wii Sports activities (Nintendo), Residence Sports activities (Meta) and others.
The recruited contributors voluntarily accomplished a questionnaire to evaluate their recreation involvement, psychological well-being, loneliness and different elements.
“The importance of these findings is to show that well-being is a complex and multidimensional construct that can be more fully understood when both individuals’ sources of enjoyment—for example, games—and their social experiences—for example, loneliness—are considered simultaneously,” Kim and Park mentioned.
Analysis findings
Researchers discovered that those that had been extra engaged in gaming confirmed larger ranges of psychological well-being. This discovering gives helpful insights into the continuing debate on the benefits and downsides of gaming involvement, including new views from AR/VR gaming.
In addition they discovered that AR/VR sports activities video games can create a robust sense of being with others by utilizing avatars, real-time communication and nonverbal cues. Importantly, these social connections not solely create a shared presence but additionally play a key position in enhancing gamers’ psychological well-being.
“When people feel present with others through avatars or virtual interaction, the experience becomes more than just a game,” mentioned Kim. “That’s the power of social presence.”
The findings additionally broaden conventional concepts about on-line interplay, exhibiting that AR/VR gaming goes past textual content to incorporate richer, extra human-like methods of connecting.
Customers who gamed extra usually and who skilled loneliness of their day by day lives had been extra more likely to expertise a optimistic psychological profit. The authors speculated that AR/VR sports activities video games could be provided into therapeutic interventions for these experiencing loneliness or psychological well being challenges.
Wanting forward
Nonetheless, the researchers say AR/VR sports activities video games aren’t a catch-all resolution for resolving loneliness. Some customers, they discovered, should still really feel uneasy about speaking and interacting in digital settings, making it tougher for them to develop a way of belonging by gaming.
It is one of many causes the researchers encourage practitioners and policymakers to additionally think about regulating how AR/VR sports activities video games are used to assist psychological well being and engagement.
“The study revealed not all individuals benefit from social AR/VR sport gaming,” in response to the research, which was co-authored with Jun-Phil Uhm at Inha College and Sungsook Ahn at Cheongju College. “This highlights the importance of educating users, practitioners and policymakers on how to harness its potential while being mindful of its possible drawbacks.”
Extra data:
Sanghoon Kim et al, Exploring the Social Dimensions of Digital/Augmented Actuality Sport Gaming: Interaction Amongst Recreation Involvement, Interpersonal Relationships, Social Capital, and Psychological Nicely-Being, Worldwide Journal of Human–Pc Interplay (2025). DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2025.2495113
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Research finds AR/VR sports activities video games increase psychological well being and social connection (2025, September 14)
retrieved 14 September 2025
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