What this story covers:
Sports teams are always looking to gain an edge. One way many have tried in recent years is through the use of advanced video technology. Virtual reality headsets and other immersive experiences help athletes in a variety of ways — if they are willing to use the technology.
Why it matters:
Technology is upending sports in many ways — and VR is just one of them. It’s not just for monitoring player performance; VR can be a recruiting tool and help with medical interventions.
By Eric Himmelheber & Matt Petraglia
It’s the competitive nature of sports that takes players and coaches to the extreme to get the upper hand on an opponent. In the digital age, that means using all forms of technology to track tendencies and improve player performance. No longer is it enough for teams to use a standard camera to film players and review the tape in film sessions. These days, teams are using virtual reality and other advanced video technology.
Joe Detorie, a former NCAA Division I football player at Stony Brook University, said all teams are using film to prepare.
“It’s a part of any football team or pretty much any sport, especially at this level,” Detorie said. “It’s huge towards being so successful.”
At Stony Brook, when football players arrive as freshmen, they are given an iPad with special software. The team’s film crew uploads everything for them.
“It’s pretty much instant,” Detorie said. “By the time we are out of the locker room after a workout or practice, our film is already ready for us to watch.”
Teams have long used video to review plays and determine how athletes can improve their swings, throws and movements. But the cutting-edge video technology now in widespread use at the pro and college level gives athletes and coaches even more useful data on players’ mechanics and tendencies, and how they can improve their durability.
Film and iPads aren’t the only way large universities are using technology in sports. In 2015, Michigan partnered with a virtual reality company, Headcase VR, to help entice recruits. During their on-campus visits, recruits often asked, “what’s it like to play a game in Ann Arbor?” According to Sports Illustrated, rather than just telling recruits, Michigan showed them by giving them virtual reality headsets that put them inside a Michigan helmet.
Recruits were transported inside Michigan stadium, packed full of screaming fans and the opposing team. This technique helped Michigan land some big-names in recruiting and set them, and other collegiate programs, up for future success.
Virtual reality becomes part of the athletics arms race
In college sports, high-level programs have historically used plush locker rooms, modern workout facilities and new stadiums to lure recruits. Now, virtual reality and other video technology is part of the athletics arm race.
In addition to being a recruiting tool, college teams use video to show players how they can improve once they are on the team. Stanford’s football team uses headsets provided by virtual reality company STRIVR to not only recruit but practice during the summer and the season as well.
Former Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan showed a marked improvement in performance after he started using virtual reality to train, said Omar Ahmad, director of sports partnerships at STRIVR. Hogan ended up setting career high’s in 2015 across the board in every passing category.
While virtual reality is starting to gain a foothold in college programs, high schools usually don’t have the means to acquire the technology.
“Cost is the primary challenge of AR/VR tools in most markets, and especially so in education,” a 2019 ABI Research report notes. “Funding is one of the primary barriers for massive adoption of AR/VR solutions within educational systems, due to the high cost of headsets along with the limited financial resources in many schools.”
Pro athletes regularly use VR headsets
Virtual reality is commonly used among professional athletes and coaches. Cost is not an issue — but getting players to buy into using the technology can be a challenge. Ahmad said some players weren’t too open to using the technology for training, specifically former Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer.
But that soon changed. During the 2015 NFL season, Palmer said in a Business Insider article that the virtual reality training exercises he used in the STRIVR VR headsets actually helped him watch “the placement of his arm and elbow as he whips the ball, and see why a play either failed or succeeded.”
The Cardinals ended up going 13-3 that season. It was also the first season Palmer was selected to the Pro Bowl since 2006. Palmer’s 77.0 passer rating that season was the highest in his entire career. His 63.7 percent completion percentage was the highest since 2007 and the third highest in his 14-year career.
And to top it all off, Palmer also set a career-high in passing yards (4,671) and passing touchdowns (35).
Virtual reality training played at least some role in Palmer’s resurgence. And Arizona is one of many NFL teams that uses VR.
Will Gee, founder and CEO of Balti Virtual, a virtual and augmented reality company based in Baltimore, sold its VR system to the Baltimore Ravens in 2007.
“Back then, the technology was super basic,” Gee said. “It was a small field of view. It wasn’t fast.”
Most of the headsets in the late 2000s and early 2010s required use of a smartphone. Many also caused side effects such as nausea and dizziness — and this remains a problem among some users.
In the mid-2010s, haptic interfaces were developed, allowing humans to interact with a computer through body movements. Still, there were limitations of what could be tracked. In 2018, a new Oculus headset prototype was created with a 140-degree field of view. This, in return, allowed users to see everything around them, rather than just straight in a general direction like most VR headsets had allowed previously. This means, for example, a quarterback would only be able to see straight down the field, rather than sideline to sideline. He wouldn’t be able to see who is on his left or right.
Now players can often see 360 degrees — which is especially helpful for quarterbacks who are scrambling in the pocket.
“When we brought the VR, 3D technology, [we] threw it up on a screen,” Gee said. “One person could be in the [VR headset] … And the coach is dragging players all around on the defense saying ‘Okay, what’s the call here?’”
The Ravens players’ initial reaction was a combination of shock and intrigue. Gee said. Before virtual reality, the practice was always based on what you saw on film and the x’s and o’s on the whiteboard.
Balti VR continued to work with the Ravens to improve whatever aspect they needed in the technology department. But, yet again, there was some pushback. Balti VR proposed developing artificial intelligence that would determine which play is best to run against a certain opposing play. However, then-Ravens head coach Brian Billick wasn’t a fan of the idea.
VR’s off-the-field applications
Virtual reality does more than just improving player performance and informing coach decision making. It is also used for recovery.
Over the years, virtual reality has allowed for breakthroughs in the world of physical therapy. Research and tests show that VR therapy helps patients fully recover from even the most gruesome of injuries by augmenting current programs from an experienced physical therapist. Some techniques in VR recovery include games that have progression points simply to make therapy more engaging and to keep patients more devoted to their schedules.
Dr. Dinesh Manocha, a computer science and electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Maryland- College Park, who specializes in virtual and augmented reality, said the possibilities for athletes and virtual reality are endless.
One of promising applications is using virtual and augmented reality programs on athletes to prevent injuries from happening — even the common ACL tear for football players.
Minocha said it’s hard to know what the limits are for how virtual reality can help with sports medicine. One area of great concern — preventing or responding to concussions in football. Virtual reality may play a role there as well.