Show Me How to Play: Exploring Self-Modeling for Onboarding in Virtual Reality Exergames

Exergames combine motivating game elements with bodily movement to encourage physical activity. However, onboarding players to perform correct movements remains a challenge, especially in virtual reality (VR) environments where safety and performance are critical. Drawing inspiration from sports training and learning sciences, we contrast two onboarding approaches: (i) trial-and-error and (ii) observational learning via a novel self-model tutorial. In this tutorial, players temporarily lose agency and observe their own avatar performing the movements, leveraging VR’s unique affordances for embodied experiences. To explore which of these two approaches yields a better performance and player experience, we conducted a between-participants study (N = 60), comparing them against a baseline condition without a tutorial. Our findings show that the self-model tutorial not only improves players’ performance but also increases the perceived ease of control and progress feedback. We discuss tradeoffs and implications for the design of future onboarding experiences in VR exergames.