Exploring How Movement Reshapes Peripersonal Space in Virtual Reality: First PERiFORM Experiment Completed

We have successfully completed the first experiment of the PERiFORM project, marking a significant milestone for Work Package 3 (WP3): Evaluating Methods for PPS Remapping in Virtual Reality. This work focuses on peripersonal space (PPS), defined as the space immediately surrounding the body that we can reach and act upon, which plays a crucial role in how we interact with our environment. The initial study was highly active and engaging, involving tasks such as walking on a treadmill, coordinated upper-body movements, and virtual shovelling within immersive VR environments. These dynamic activities allowed us to systematically investigate how different types of bodily movement influence PPS remapping, providing a strong and motivating start to the project’s research.

The experiment involved 34 participants, with a balanced sample of 17 men and 17 women, ensuring robust and representative data collection. The primary objective of WP3 is to document the internal validity of existing methods for PPS remapping in VR by directly comparing the effects of different movement-based training paradigms, including walking, arm movements, and leg movements. By examining how these actions reshape the boundaries of PPS, this work addresses a key gap in previous research: the relative effectiveness of distinct movement types in remapping PPS has not been extensively explored.

With data collection now complete, the research team is currently preparing an academic manuscript for publication. The findings from this experiment will contribute to a deeper scientific understanding of how immersive VR training and embodied movement shape spatial perception. They will also serve as a critical evidence base for guiding the following stages of the PERiFORM project.

Building directly on the outcomes of WP3, the next phase of the PERiFORM project will apply the most effective PPS-remapping training intervention to a sports performance context, with a particular focus on boxing. In this upcoming work package, boxers will be evaluated on sport-specific performance measures before and after VR training, using the task identified in WP3 as having the highest potential to induce PPS reshaping. This phase aims to clarify the link between peripersonal space and athletic performance, supporting the translation of fundamental VR research into applied sports science and training practice.

This research is part of the PERiFORM project, funded by the Cyprus Research & Innovation Foundation (RIF) under the RESTART 2016–2020 framework (Grant No. POST-DOC/0524/0011).