Japanese technology giant NTT Data began collaborating with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Rakuten Golden Eagles on a project three years ago that turned into a virtual reality simulator. The Eagles began using the system during the 2017 season, and at least one MLB club has joined as a client, too.
While there are several competitors in the field of VR baseball tools, what distinguishes NTT Data’s product is a research-based approach and a new feature incorporating additional sensors. Instead of limiting the hitter-program interaction to just a VR headset, athletes can add a wearable sensor on their pelvis to track hip rotation and another sensor on the bat. NTT also uses Oculus Touch handheld controllers.
“We monitor what’s the movement, what’s the reaction of the players,” said Tomoko Ara, NTT Data’s deputy manager and founder of the company’s virtual reality sports products group.
NTT Data, which appeared at MLB’s winter meetings last December to pitch the product further in the North American market, creates its VR product by first stationing a 360-degree camera near home plate to capture the surroundings. Video of a pitcher throwing is then overlaid at the mound, and TrackMan radar data powers the simulation of the ball to mimic the real velocity and movement of pitches. The R&D work was conducted in NTT’s Media Intelligence Laboratories.
Hitters can use the VR program in pregame to scout opposing pitchers. Backups and injured players are able to practice their timing while not in the lineup. And pitchers can stand in and watch how their own pitches appear and how they move. The addition of motion sensors to track player reaction times allows the program to be used as a scouting tool as well.
“In the actual world, it’s difficult to compare players in the same condition because the condition is totally different,” Ara said. “In the case of the VR, every player can experience the same pitching.”
Underpinning that is peer-reviewed research comparing the timing in the VR simulation to real-life conditions. That work was overseen by Naoki Saijo, a neuroscientist in NTT’s Communication Science Laboratories and a senior research scientist for the sports project. Saijo’s study determined that the timing was comparable to real life and that a hitter’s response in VR was a “genuine reaction,” he said.
“That’s very important for the teams or the players because, if those situations are quite different, the reaction is quite different,” Saijo said.
Each hitter will have his own unique ideal swing, but the timing of motion has a baseline. Saijo found that timing characteristics tended to differ according to the level of players, from big leaguers down to minor leaguers.
“VR is very useful technology to investigate the players’ ability,” Saijo said. “The top players’ data is quite amazing, why they can discriminate such a slight difference in using his whole body movement. That’s quite an amazing ability from the perspective of the neuroscience. Their data is kind of crazy.”
By conducting periodic assessments during the season, a team may also be able to detect if there are any underlying changes that might affect performance.
Rakuten star infielder Toshiaki Imae participated in the 2016 trials of the device and said in an NTT news release at the time, “The head-mounted display gives players the advantage of being able to practice receiving a variety of pitches. This gives them more confidence, and the readiness to face any game.”