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# Pretraining Support for Cheerleading Stunts using Virtual Reality

Mizuki Akiyama, Christian Sandor, Yuki Igarashi

► To cite this version:

Mizuki Akiyama, Christian Sandor, Yuki Igarashi. Pretraining Support for Cheerleading Stunts using Virtual Reality. SIGGRAPH Posters '25: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference Posters, Aug 2025, Vancouver, Canada. pp.1-3, 10.1145/3721250.3743007 . hal-05358588

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Submitted on 11 Nov 2025

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# Pretraining Support for Cheerleading Stunts using Virtual Reality

Mizuki Akiyama

Ochanomizu University
Tokyo, Japan

g2020501@is.ocha.ac.jp

Christian Sandor

CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay
Orsay, France

christian.sandor@lisn.upsaclay.fr

Yuki Igarashi

Ochanomizu University
Tokyo, Japan

yuki@is.ocha.ac.jp

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: A): A cheerleader using our system. B): Observing the “Toe Touch Toss up to back 1-1-1” stunt in virtual space. The green avatar is doing a split at the highest point of their flight, and the pink avatar is standing on the yellow avatar’s shoulders. Blue, red and white avatars throw the green avatar, and the gray avatar is ready to prevent any dangerous falls. C)-F): The cheerleader can choose between each avatar’s viewpoint.</figcaption></figure>

## Abstract

Cheerleading stunts are group gymnastics performed by multiple people. As the skills involved become more challenging, it is necessary to devise better practice methods. Thus, in this paper, we propose a pretraining support system for cheerleading stunts using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. This system enables users to experience successfully performing a stunt in the virtual space by adopting the viewpoints of the cheerleaders performing various types of stunts. We evaluated our system through interviews with two experts. Our system has the potential to meaningfully augment the established training method of previsualization of stunts.

## Keywords

Cheerleading Stunt, Virtual Reality, Pretraining

## ACM Reference Format:

Mizuki Akiyama, Christian Sandor, and Yuki Igarashi. 2025. Pretraining Support for Cheerleading Stunts using Virtual Reality. In *Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference Posters (SIGGRAPH Posters '25)*, August 10–14, 2025, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 3 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3721250.3743007

## 1 Introduction

According to Fadare[et al 2022a], visualizing has a significant impact on every athlete who wants to succeed in their sport, and it has been shown to be a useful tool for general technique practice. One of the benefits is increased self-efficacy and confidence, improved concentration during competition, and reduced stress and anxiety. When performing a cheerleading stunt, every cheerleader needs to have confidence and concentration, so visualization is considered to be very effective. Additionally, mimicking the movements as if genuinely performing the stunt will help individuals internalize them, making pretraining even more effective.

Some VR systems have been developed to assist practice. The VR-based Kendama training system[et al 2022b] supports learning skills never been successfully performed before. The difficulty level is adjusted by changing the ball speed in the VR space, and the captured physical movements of an actual expert are presented as a virtual example. Another system is IT3[et al 2024], a 3D table tennis game, incorporating AI-predicted player movements and ball placements, based on any given broadcast table tennis video. Players can train their reactions and responses to different types of serves in a VR environment.

However, a system for pretraining cheerleading stunts using VR has not been developed yet. As cheerleading stunt skills are becoming more complex, the burden on cheerleaders' bodies is increasing, requiring more effective skill acquisition methods. The corresponding author, a competitive cheerleader with 15 years of experience, was motivated by training needs not fully addressed by
<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2: The implementation steps to create a stunt animation from a stunt video. 1) A stunt video. 2) The output video from Humans in 4D. Meshes are overlayed on each cheerleader. 3) The animated meshes are cleaned in Blender. 4) Meshes are exported to unity.</figcaption></figure>

current methods: repeatedly watching videos of successful performances and mentally visualizing the movements before attempting new or difficult stunts. The motivation for this is to reduce fear of failure, which is considered to reduce risk of injury. We propose a VR-based pretraining support system for cheerleading stunts, with the goal of making it more effective than video-based practice as it offers an immersive 3D perspective that enhances spatial awareness. To evaluate its potential, we conducted two expert interviews, in which we elicited their impressions, as well as discussed their previous pretraining experiences.

## 2 Implementation

Figure 2 shows the implementation steps. Cheerleading stunts are performed by multiple people simultaneously, so there are several cases where cheerleaders overlap in the video. Also, most cheerleading stunts are over 3 meters high. These factors make it challenging to recognize their movements using motion capture. Therefore, we use Humans in 4D[et al 2023], which can create 3D animated meshes from videos taken during stunt practice to track movements. However, inaccuracies appear when cheerleaders overlap, which will be corrected in post-processing using Blender. Any other unnatural movements are also adjusted. Subsequently, Unity is used to design an application that lets users experience these stunts.

## 3 User Interface

The user wears Head Mounted Displays (HMD) and holds controllers. To avoid collisions with surrounding things, a distance of at least 1 meter should be maintained from the user.

At first, the user sees a list of stunts and selects one by raycasting with the controllers. Then, the scene switches to that of the selected stunt. Next, the user can select any of the cheerleaders performing the stunt, placing the user in that cheerleader's viewpoint to mimic their movements. Pretraining becomes more effective by experiencing the viewpoint and imitating the movements.

There are a variety of stunts in the selection scene. These include a 3-tier pyramid, where a cheerleader sits on the other's shoulders and another stands on the cheerleader's arms. Basket toss, where three cheerleaders launch a fourth in the air. Similarly, there are

cheerleaders' viewpoints the user can select: second tier, the bottom, those who throw the cheerleader, or those who surround the stunt to prevent dangerous falls. When the user selects one of the cheerleaders, the user's location switches to that of the selected cheerleader, allowing the user to experience that cheerleader's viewpoint. Alternatively, the user can approach the stunt without selecting any cheerleader and use it for objective observation.

This system enables users to experience cheerleaders' viewpoints and observe stunts from close proximity, which is not feasible when viewing through conventional video footage.

## 4 Expert Interviews

We interviewed two cheerleaders (females, aged 23) with over 8 years of experience. After using our system for pretraining, we asked them about their impressions compared to their previous pretraining experiences. Before using our system, we explained how our system works and the interview procedure. Next, they answered some questions regarding their previous pretraining experience. When using our system, they did not only experience changing their viewpoint, but actually simulated movements in accordance with the movement of the avatar whose viewpoint they were taking.

Regarding previous pretraining, they said that they watched videos repeatedly, asked people with experience in stunts how to do them, and mentally visualized them. However, even though they could visualize, they said that they were often scared and also unsure whether they understood correctly.

Their impressions of using our system were that it had similar views to actual stunts. They also noted that, depending on the cheerleader's position within the stunt, things other than vision—such as coordination between cheerleaders—could be equally important. Thus, they thought our system was quite useful as a “tool specialized in visualization”. Please refer to the supplementary materials for more detailed information related to the interviews.

## 5 Conclusions and Future Work

This paper proposes a pretraining system for cheerleading stunts in VR. Cheerleading stunts are becoming more difficult every year. With our system, users can experience the viewpoints of cheerleaders performing stunts while imagining success without worrying about the risk of injury, which serves as an effective pretraining before performing the stunt. Moreover, we conducted interviews with experienced cheerleaders. Depending on the cheerleader's position within the stunt, things other than vision could be important. Since this system is designed for single-user use and VR does not allow users to see their own bodies, participants regarded the system as particularly useful as a “tool specialized in visualization”.

Furthermore, we are developing an Augmented Reality (AR) version of the system. It provides a more realistic experience, as users can check their own movements while experiencing the viewpoint. In addition, multiple users can collaborate, allowing virtual and real cheerleaders to perform together and check each other's movements, enhancing both visual understanding and coordination.

## Acknowledgments

This project is supported by the JGC-Saneyoshi Scholarship Foundation.
References

F.A.-Stephen et al. 2022a. A Voyage into the Visualization of Athletic Performances: A
Review. *AJMRI* 1, 3 (Aug. 2022), 105–109. doi:10.54536/ajmri.v1i3.479

H. Kawasaki et al. 2022b. A system for augmenting humans’ ability to learn kendama tricks through virtual reality training. In *the AHs 2022*. 152–161.

P.H.-Huang et al. 2024. IT3: Immersive Table Tennis Training Based on 3D Reconstruc-
tion of Broadcast Video. In *SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 Posters*. Article 11.

S. Goel et al. 2023. Humans in 4D: Reconstructing and Tracking Humans with Trans-formers. In *ICCV2023*. 14783–14794.