Every weekend VRFocus brings you a number of sports and eSports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories as part of This Week In VR Sport. This week, visitors to the Sydney Motorsport Park will be able to take part in an eSports competition to win a test day in a Formula 4 car, HawkeyeSports is getting a new Xtream HawkVision feature to bring exclusive AR content to Iowa Athletics Fans, and SyncThink updates their application to allow for VR analytics to examine athletes for injuries.
Xtream HawkVision App Brings AR Content To Iowa Athletics Fans
HawkeyeSports is the “one-stop-shop” for all things Iowa athletics by offering fans a comprehensive suite of statistics, schedules, team information, and other relevant content thanks to the University of Iowa’s athletics department. Now, the team behind the app are bringing AR technology to the app to extend its offering by a new platform they are calling Xtream HawkVision.
“It’s exciting for us,” Said Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Communications and Marketing Charlie Taylor speaking to Front Office Sports: “Our thought process is constantly ‘how can we improve our fans experience?’ You hear that tossed around a lot in our industry, particularly around coming to a game. We’ve decided to look not just at the game day as an experience, but everything we do as an experience — including digital and mobile.”
Created in collaboration with SIDEARM Sports, Xtream HawkVision will open up a new world for Hawkeye sports fan by taking full adventure of the immersive power of the technology. By launching the HawkeyeSports App and then selecting the Xtreme HawkVision platform from the menu, users will then be able to scan unique items or logos involved in the Hawkeyes AR campaign to experience exclusive content. This includes a partnership with Coca-Cola, Iowa Corn, and the Iowa Farm Bureau to create four unique experiences that the team think fans will enjoy.
Fans will be able to enjoy a digital countdown of the Top 10 Iowa football moments of the last 20 years to even picking up souvenir cups during five of the seven home games which will include AR features available by scanning the cup. Each of the different AR experiences and partnerships offer a different way for fans to engage with the sport and enjoy a different experience from each one.
The team is hoping to expand the platform further in the future as well with more experiences and VRFocus will be sure ot bring you all the latest on these as well.
SyncThink To Use VR Analytics To Examine Sports Athletes For Possible Injuries
Neurotechnology company SyncThink, which is best known for its ability to preform neurotechnology and brain health analytics, has announced that it is expanding its software capabilities to allow sports teams to examine athletes for possible injuries, as reported by SportTechie.
Their flagship product, Eye-Sync, is able to detect impairments that can be indicative of a concussion. This application can be used by teams to check within a minute if a player is in a fit state to return to action of a match safely or if further action is required. It is not just concussions though the software can detect as the application is able to be used to monitor fatigue as well.
“What we have seen when we screen athletes is that there is a certain percentage of healthy individuals who have sub-optimal eye tracking for their sport,” Said SyncThink’s founder and chief scientific adviser, Dr. Jam Ghajar “Perhaps they have a particular area in their visual field that could be better optimized with focused training, and when we provide that training they are able to quickly improve the quality of their dynamic vision and overall brain performance. Recent studies have also suggested that these individuals could be more susceptible to injury, so the key is to screen them early to identify and remedy these deficits, as another step to mitigate risk and optimize performance.”
The hope is that thanks to this new application, athletes will be able to get better and fast care thanks to the rapid diagnostic ability of the software.
Shannons Nationals To Host eSport Competition At Sydney Motorsport Park
Racing fans in Australia best start getting their driving skills up to par as the Shannons Nationals are adding an eSports competition to upcoming Sydney Motorsport Park. Taking place on 21st till the 23rd September, Motum Simulation will be attending with a full motion VR racing simulator to give attendees a chance to immersive themselves within the action. The winner of this will not just get glory though as they will also get a test day in a Formula 4 car for their efforts.
Talking to EFTM, Shannons Nationals Director Micheal Smith said: “We’re really excited to be working with the team at Motum Simulation to have Esports officially on the Shannons Nationals card on 21-23 September,”
“Online racing is serious business and something that is giving many young people a chance to show off their driving skills from the comfort of their own home, particularly when you have access to simulators like Motum’s, which are fully immersive.” Smith continues: “We are also planning on showing the final race between the top three of the weekend on the Shannons live stream on Sunday to give everyone a chance to see how this newest addition to the Shannons Nationals unfolds.”
This news follows on from the announcement back in July that HTC Vive had partnered with the McLaren racing team to host an eSports series themselves. Now with the Shannons Nationals getting involved in VR eSports, it will only be a matter of time until more join in this exciting means of competition.
Those looking to take part will need to register online before hand and VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the event in the future.