Saturday means another trip into the area where the world of virtual reality (VR) interesects with the world of sport, presumably represented by some sort of Venn diagram. This week in there is an incredible mix of sports – whether or not you consider them all to be one – but it is all still a bit US-dominated.
VR Praised By College Football Coaches
Not a week goes by without some kind of American Football related story being included in our Saturday sport round-up, and if you were hoping the Super Bowl spelt the end of those for a while I’m afraid you’re mistaken. We may be in the post-season but that only means it is a time for reflection, and after its first season in full use as a coaching tool for many professional and college teams VR has proven its worth as an aid – at least according to one coach.
Speaking in a video to Fox Sports, Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury described the vital role the team’s system – provided by STRIVR – is playing in developing younger players.
“College football is incredibly competitive. You have some of your top-tier programs who get the five-star players. If you aren’t getting those players, you better find advantages elsewhere. And virtual reality has helped us dramatically.” It’s also changing the way players prefer to look back at archive tape of their opponents and themselves, as Kingsbury explains. “One of the bigger things is that I see them wanting to go use the virtual reality,” Kingsbury said. “It’s not easy to get them to watch the standard film anymore because they want to put [the VR headset] on, they want to see it and hear it from that perspective. Because that’s how they play.”
Another college coach Matt Rhule of New Baylor will be bringing the technology on board next season after being thoroughly impressed by what he has witnessed in his previous coaching role. “I’m a huge, huge believer in virtually reality. We had it for the last two years and won 10 games in each of those years. I think the eyes are one of those untrained aspects of football. Everybody talks about ‘speed’ and how fast a guy is. But it’s also about recognizing players and structure, and I think instincts can be learned and taught, so that intangible thing becomes tangible.”
Manchester United Tean With Swissquote For 360 Degree Series
Manchester United’s captain Wayne Rooney, along with teammates Sergio Romero, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have teamed up with Swissquote, one of Manchester United’s commercial partners, to be a part of a new series of videos that will see show the “synergies between FX trading and football”. With the first video in the 360˚ series called “Take the Lead” looking at the direct similarities between a player and a trader.
If this sounds a bit silly to you, yes you’re right, it is.
It does however use the 360 degree vision in an interesting and creative manner however, offering a splitscreen view, or two lots of 180 degrees between both parties. Episode 1: “Take security” features Rooney preparing to leave for a game, with future videos set to show Romero going through his morning routine, Rashford engaging in a video call with former Red Devil’s star Andrew Cole, and Martial getting dressed up smartly for an event. All with a trader equivalent doing the same thing.