If you’re a high school, college or pro quarterback in this era of technological advancement, you’ve likely come across a number of virtual reality offerings that help you prepare for games and improve your overall play. Soon you’ll have another, but one that promises to be more immersive and realistic than its competitors.
And it all started with a former general manager of the Denver Broncos, Ted Sundquist, whose knowledge and experience in player development led him to start Sports Virtual Training Systems. The company’s first product, QBSIM, is a virtual reality training simulator that allows quarterbacks to act as if they’re in a live game without the risk of getting driven into the gridiron.
Sundquist, who played and coached football at the Air Force Academy, became the general manager during a 16-year career with the Denver Broncos under the tutelage of Jack Elway, the father of quarterback and current Broncos general manager John Elway. Jack Elway, Sundquist told SportTechie, taught him the ropes of scouting and personnel development that led to back-to-back Super Bowl championships with John Elway under center during Sundquist’s time with the team as college scouting director.
“He taught me a lot about transitioning from coaching to scouting, which is where my career eventually took off in the NFL in player personnel and personnel management,” Sundquist said in a phone interview. “But we had a nice run, there were two years (of) back-to-back Super Bowl wins, and I was very fortunate to being part of building a championship organization.
“And I think as a result, it gave me an opportunity to really see some of the challenges and problems that face not only NFL programs but collegiate programs as well, and that is developing players in an era, in an atmosphere where contact and the risk of injury — and especially concussions — is so high.”
That’s where Sundquist’s idea for Sports VTS was born. QBSIM, announced by the company Thursday, moves beyond virtual reality and into simulation reality, allowing quarterbacks to put on a VR headset, step into a simulator, and throw a football just as they would in a game. The simulator incorporates artificial intelligence and proprietary models, as well as 10 years of NFL player data, to create real, high-pressure situations that quarterbacks face on the field without the risk of getting tackled and potentially suffering an injury.
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The simulator concept comes from Sundquist’s observations during his time in the Air Force watching friends train to be pilots. He said the simulators the Air Force used created an experience akin to flying a real aircraft. The entire simulation is built into a football helmet.
“And these simulators were so realistic, it was as if the pilots were sitting in the actual cockpit,” Sundquist said. “And that’s what you need — you need them to be under the same pressures and situations and scenarios that they would face if they were up in the air flying a multi-billion dollar aircraft.”
The simulator works so that a quarterback has to read the defense — which also reacts to the quarterback’s actions — call audibles, check progressions, and make accurate throws under realistic pressure situations — all made possible by the combo of NFL data, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. But for Sundquist, the most exciting part of the simulation is the QB’s ability to actually throw a regulation football.
“I don’t know any other way to train a quarterback if he’s not allowed to actually move around the pocket and to actually throw a real football,” Sundquist said. He added that in his experience, there’s a lot of talent that knows what to do in certain situations, but can’t actually execute the right plays when put under pressure.
“And if you can build that mind-body-muscle memory and get them to react under stressful situations, just like we do with pilots in the cockpit in simulation training, then I think you’re onto something and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The entire simulation is built into a football helmet with a visor, and upon wearing the helmet, the quarterback is oriented to a football venue of choice and face the virtual game situation with 10 players on offense and 11 on defense. The football itself is picked up by motion trackers that can detect the football, and after an algorithm takes over for some very quick calculations, the player can in real-time see the football’s arc in the virtual environment.
The chip and transmitter tech is patented and can be customized to any football helmet on the market. Sports VTS also has proprietary haptic technology that can be built into shoulder pads and other equipment.
After the calendar turns to 2018, Sundquist and his team — comprised of business executives like former Catapult Sports President for North America Brian Kopp and former football players like Craig Ochs — will work to roll out QBSIM to various NFL and college teams. The cost of the simulator is still unknown, but Sundquist said he is leaning towards introducing a licensing agreement structure.
Even though Sundquist knows there are plenty of other VR options already on the market, such as STRIVR, he says QBSIM stands alone in its capabilities.
“This is a Sports VTS product, QBSIM’s software is unique to itself, and knowing what’s out there on the market, no one right now can do what we’re doing.”
