A new virtual reality technology has launched to help soccer teams not only spot new talent, but also improve player performance and mental sharpness during rehabilitation from injury.
Mi-Hiepa Scout uses a limb tracking system that analyzes the movement of a player’s feet and shins in VR as is applied to individual drills. The creators say that this approach means that for the first time talent spotters can produce rapid, standardized, measurable and comparable results. In addition to this, they say a club’s existing talent can have their rehabilitation from injury tracked and improved.
To date, Mi-Hiepa Scout has run 74 live drills with over 640 players tested across six countries and it says that it worked with English Premier League clubs, ex-professionals like Mike Phelan and Dean Holden, physiotherapists and sports scientists to the technology.
Meanwhile, others within the scouting analysis space includes Wyscout, which instead relies upon video content, which is logged on to it platform for users to review.
At the Soccerex event where Mi-Hiepa Scout was on show, former Manchester United player Danny Webber said: “I’d love to have used it, especially coming off the back of 14 operations in my career.”
In a report about the launch, Adam Dickinson, production and development director from Mi-Hiepa, said: “Our system helps get players better mentally and physically through individual training drills.”
“From a talent spotting perspective, it provides an objective, sterile environment, meaning all players have exactly the same conditions and can be compared equally. A youngster could go through our tests in 30 minutes and you would get objective data about their ability and performance.”