A VIRTUAL REALITY APPROACH IN LEARNING ABOUT DOPING

Background Doping is among the most important threats of sport. Existing education focuses on competitive athletes and uses traditional teaching approaches. VIRAL is motivated by the need to advance anti-doping education intervention targeting recreational athletes. It envisages to address the need to transform the way anti-doping education is designed, delivered and evaluated through the development of a VR program as an effective tool for educating athletes about the risks involved in doping. Objectives The objectives of the VIRAL Project were to:1.Utilize cutting-edge behavioural science research about the risk and protective factors against doping to inform the development of an anti-doping VR program.2.Use an "open innovation" framework to co-design the anti-doping VR program.3.Apply and evaluate the effectiveness of the doping prevention VR program in changing young people's beliefs towards doping.4.Train the trainers on how to promote the VR program into young athletes. Implementation VIRAL employed desk research to determine the state of web-based anti-doping applications and doping risk and protective factors. This information led to the development of scenarios for the VR program. The developed VR program provides multiple play levels where players experience doping firsthand. replicate the doping dilemmas in a virtual world. VIRAL implemented and evaluated the anti-doping VR program. Moreover, VIRAL partners held national launch events with stakeholders. Achievements VIRAL program was well-received by athletes who reported change in doping-related beliefs in several occasions, whereas immersion and engagement with the VR was also satisfactory. The project provides valuable insights into the potential of VR interventions in shaping doping beliefs. Through VIRAL practitioners and policymakers can develop targeted interventions that leverage VR technology to promote ethical decision-making and prevent doping behaviors in sports and fitness settings.