Experimental Studies
The cycling scenario consisted of three experimental studies:
- Study I: Identify kinematic encoding of a cycling attack (L0)
- Study II: Readout (L0 – L1)
- Study III: Training in Virtual Reality (L3)
Study I: Kinematic encoding of a cycling attack
Although the influence of kinematic information on anticipation has been studied in contexts such as ball sports, it remains unexplored in cycling. However, in situations such as a cyclist’s attack, anticipation can be beneficial for performance. It should allow the rider to quickly follow the attacker in order to break away from the peloton with them, while benefiting from their aerodynamic protection.
Study I explored the subtle movement information that annunciate the launch of an attack. 8 elite cyclists were asked to perform attacks. Their movements were captured using a motion-capture suit equipped with inertial measurement units. Videos were also recorded from the point of view of a cyclist following the attacker. The motion capture data enabled us to build an encoding model.
Study II: Readout
Study II aimed at determining whether cyclists and novices were able to predict the launch of an attack when they only seen a few pedaling cycles preceding the attack. We presented both real videos (L0) from the experiments conducted during Phase I, as well as animated videos (L1) based on the motion capture data from Phase I. The comparison of the L0/L1 results will allow us to verify whether the perceptual cues are preserved or, on the contrary, whether changes have occurred (as the animation process may distort the movement).
Study III: Training in Virtual Reality
Study III focuses on training the anticipation skills of the cyclists using the amplification of the subtle movement information. Cyclist and novice participants will be asked to follow a one-week training protocol (one session per day). During the training sessions, they will be exposed to animations showing attack trials and non-attack trials. The attack animations may be more or less amplified. We therefore hope to observe an improvement in anticipation skills as a result of this training.
