The adoption of Virtual Reality in the sports world is undoubtedly the hottest new trend in sports technology. The San Francisco 49ers are now the latest pro team to join the VR movement as they are partnering with STRIVR Labs.
STRIVR Labs provides college and NFL football teams with a customizable virtual reality solution. The company started as Derek Belch’s, a former Stanford kicker, Master thesis. It was originally created to train quarterbacks with more exercises and repetitions in less time. But before long it grew into a device for other positions and grabbed the attention of the NFL.
STRIVR can place a player in a virtual reality with real team members and voices that are gathered from multiple cameras in the offensive backfield. Users are able to hear coaches and fans, which gets players ready for loud stadiums during the season. Additionally, users are able to place themselves in a previously recorded play during practice or a game to go through reads, see opposing defensive formations and see how the play progressed.
The Dallas Cowboys were the first NFL team to sign a deal with STRIVR. Then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added a different VR system, Sidekiq, to the training of quarterback Jameis Winston as he transitions from the college level. And now, the 49ers have signed a two-year agreement with STRIVR.
General Manager of the 49ers, Trent Baalke, believes the company will prepare and train the team. “We are confident that STRIVR Labs can provide an advantage.”
STRIVR is set to partner with more NFL and college teams with the upcoming season quickly approaching. Before we know it, VR could be used as a way of recruitment. Coaches will be able to travel and visit recruits with just a smart phone and STRIVR’s headset. A recruit could be standing, virtually, in a locker room of a future school. He can hear and see everything going on from the tunnel to the sidelines.
VR technology is not stopping with just benefiting teams, however. San Francisco plans to enhance the experience for fans with virtual reality. There are predictions that the NFL and other league will give fans the option to “attend” games while being somewhere else. Fans will be able to feel like they are right in the heart of the action as if they were cheering live from the stadium.
It won’t be long before every aspect of sports will be consumed with virtual reality.