In the framework of the ShareSpace project, Valentin Ramel, PhD student in the Mimetic research team, carried out an In Situ experiment with professional cyclists in Avranches (50), France.

“The aim of the ShareSpace project is to develop an extended reality (XR) training tool for cyclists.
The aim of this tool is to improve the skills of anticipating the launch of an attack by another cyclist in the peloton. This skill is important in a performance context: anticipating the launch of an attack means that you can react quickly to follow the offensive rider and take advantage of his draft to escape from the peloton.
Firstly, we are carrying out experiments in real conditions on a karting circuit. During these, top-level cyclists are asked to reproduce attack situations in groups of two or three. During all the experiments, the movement data of the cyclists and their bikes is collected using a motion capture system based on inertial units (IMU MoCap) and inertial units fitted to the bike. This data will be analysed to identify the kinematic variables that signal the launch of an attack (i.e. identify the gestural elements that signal a cyclist’s intention to launch an attack). These identified kinematic variables can then be used in XR: amplifying them will make it easier for the trained cyclist to gather information so that he can anticipate more easily at the start of XR training.

Following these initial experiments, we will be carrying out experiments in XR. The aim of these future experiments will be to evaluate the effect of XR training on the ability to anticipate the launch of an attack. Two study groups of amateur cyclists will undergo XR training. They will be exposed to a scenario in which they will ride in a virtual peloton. At certain points, the avatar in front of them will launch an attack that they will have to follow as quickly as possible. One group will train to follow attacks without amplification of the kinematic warning variables and the other group will follow attacks with amplification of the variables (significant amplification at the start of the training then gradual reduction). Pre- and post-training anticipation skills will be analysed in both study groups. In this way, we will be able to see whether these skills have improved thanks to the XR tool and whether or not the amplification of the kinematic variables increases the benefits of the training.”