News reports have revealed that a new extended reality (XR) tool has now become integral to Germany’s European Under 17 (U17) football training programme, leading to enhanced sports training.
Germany recently scored a major win at the European U17 Football Championship against France. Taking place in Budapest, Hungary, Germany’s players topped France for the first time in 14 years.
Ten players trialling the virtual reality (VR) training module were on the team that earned the championship title. With it, football players can practice scanning, or using head signals to indicate their field positions.
Comments on Be Your Best VR Scanning Trainer
Speaking to Sky Sports, Christian Wück, Manger, Germany U17, said: “Maybe it is the most important thing because the game is so much faster than 10 years ago.”
He added:
“Decision-making is very important and the players can only make good decisions if they know where everyone is. We want to develop players who embody the German mentality. Of course, this includes athletics. But people come to the stadium to enjoy technical, beautiful, fast football. So in addition to the mentality of wanting to win, this also includes intelligent players”
To begin, Be Your Best supplied the immersive solution roughly 2.5 years ago to German teammates to train them in scanning. A 12-day training camp in Spain first offered the team a course of 15 minutes each day.
Football clubs such as Borussa Dortmund, FC Copenhagen, and FUS Rabat have documented their use cases of the trainer with the company.
Germany U17 players could also use their VR kit at home, while training physically before and after VR training.
Wück explained further,
“We had three cameras record a training game there to quantitatively measure the head movements. This was our starting point. Eighty per cent of the players had more head movements and took up better positions in the second game”
For the team, studies revealed players improved their scanning capabilities around 28 percent after a nine-week training period.
Ever wonder what passages of play look like from a player’s POV? Here’s Arsenal’s team goal through the eyes of Tomiyasu last season. In Be Your Best, players can replay this exact scenario, learning how to scan correctly. 🧠 pic.twitter.com/p17ULR7J4g
— Be Your Best (@BeYourBest_pro) July 2, 2022
Wück continued that his team had focused on load control. For his team, he said they were “just about at the limit now with physical and athletic training.”
He said: “There are so many games, so many training sessions. We cannot do more athletically with the players but we can do more with the head. One possibility is cognitive work. Virtual reality is another percentage point of performance and can become very important.”
Football Clubs and XR ‘Team Up’
Speaking further with Sky Sports, he explained that teams such as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig had been “very fast” with the VR trainer.
“We are in constant conversation on the topic, learning from one another,” he said.
The manager added,
“The players at the biggest clubs tell us that it is more fun to go in football simulators at their clubs because that is more like playing football. But there are not so many clubs with this technology so the VR glasses are a good opportunity for them”
Wück also noted a potential link between the VR trainer and improved performance the pitch. Regarding this, he stated that players with good orientation on the pitch were also “good with the VR glasses.”
According to him, the best players excelled at both. Injured players could also benefit from the VR tool, he said, adding they could train partially with the kit while recovering.
XR and the Sports Training Economy
Demond Cureton, Senior Journalist, XR Today reporting on using immersive solutions to train athletes and sports enthusiasts.
There have been a growing number of XR tools used not just to promote sports teams, but also to train them. VR education is no longer limited to industrial and office environments but has expanded to boost sports professionals and their athletic performance capabilities.
For example, XR firms like NeuroSync have incorporated their eye-tracking PRO-SYNC solution to monitor gaze, pupil measurements, and other metrics. Doing so allows them to determine if players have faced traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) such as concussions.
Medical professionals could also ‘stress-test’ many athletes at Stanford University. Findings from the survey revealed over 40 percent of athletes had ‘subclinical deficits’ leading to poor brain performance. It also found that cognitive fatigue commonly affected athletes, leading to progressively weaker performance the pitch.
XR Today interviewed Scott Anderson, Chief Clinical Officer, NeuroSync, to discuss this in greater detail. Anderson carries a career in diagnosing sports injuries and has extensively performed cognitive screenings from baseline and post-injury levels. For him and his clients, screenings have remained key to tackling suboptimal brain functioning to avoid accidents, train athletes at better intervals, and reduce the load on players.
Golf5 Sports Trainer
Additional companies are stepping up their efforts to train sports learners. Created by AAA Gamestudios, the MandMyGolf5 Academy aims to improve golfer performance with immersive technologies.
The academy aims to boost learner engagement rates, performance analytics, data analysis, and bespoke training modules to strengthen specific skills.
The solution is compatible with Meta Quest, Pico Interactive, and Steam VR headsets. According to the firm, the Academy will launch in the coming months.
Using VR headsets, learners can access full 18-hole golf courses, analyse swinging, driving, and body positioning techniques, and practice against numerous green traps.
Antonio Marín, President and Co-Founder, AAA Game Studios, lauded the solution as “a true breakthrough in golf instruction.”
XR Motorsports Training Solutions
Motorsports remain a specific area of interest in the sports industry. As a motorsports enthusiast and motorcyclist, I am personally interested in exploring XR solutions linked to training newcomers to the road.
Numerous companies offer motorsports training solutions. Some provide simulation training and others offer wearables with heads-up displays (HUDs).
Companies like BMW and Varjo have previously created mixed reality (MR) proof-of-concept (PoC) driving experiences. The seamless integration of XR and the physical world is a massive stress test for the industry, requiring real-time accuracy with a very small margin of error.
These technologies are not only beneficial to consumers but could potentially work seamlessly across a large number of verticals in transport, police, and sports.
Failure to resolve latency or performance issues could result in life-threatening, deadly injuries to motorists. According to UK government statistics, motorcyclists were the most vulnerable transport group and were 50 times more likely to die in accidents than car drivers.
Despite this, education on wearing proper gear, improving training standards, and licencing requirements have significantly reduced fatalities. Biker deaths fell from 585 in 2004 to 310 in 2021, the 2020 UK report added.
To enhance biker safety, many smart helmet makers have developed solutions to train riders to keep their focus on the road. This prevents them from looking down at mounted smartphones, leading to breaks in road concentration.
With further enhancements, training schools could also integrate their training programmes on devices to practice manoeuvers. The UK Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), along with major motoring training firms, have the possibility to integrate these tools into their curricula as well.
Firms Enter the XR Motorsports Race
For example, BMW opened sales of its ConnectedRide AR smart glasses to display vital speed, turn, and geolocation data to the rider.
According to BMW Motorrad, ConnectedRide offers motorcyclists an AR interface and slim form factor, allowing users to wear them under their existing helmets.
This trains motorcyclists to concentrate their efforts on the road rather than distractions from smartphones. Simple hand gestures also control the HUD to hide or display information.
The Full-Face XR Interface and What3Words
XR Today also featured CrossHelmet, who developed the CrossHelmet X1. Motorcyclists can use them to receive real-time directions via Google Maps rival What3Words to reach their destinations safely.
What3Words is one of the world’s premier navigational platforms, and the company has struck official partnerships with some of the world’s top firms.
These include DHL, Aramex, Amazon Alexa, TomTom, Triumph Motorcycles, the AA, Bosch, the Saudi Red Cross Authority, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ukraine, and many others.
The helmet also includes a bright, all-weather HUD for integrating AR-powered What3Words directions. It also offers rear-view camera views and controls. Side panels allow riders to control the helmet with touch gestures.
Not only will the CrossHelmet X1 increase rider safety under all visibility situations, it can boost competition in the market for smart helmet technologies. Rival iterations from other companies include the Aegis Rider, Jarvish X-AR, Beebop FF1, and Argon Transform.
These tools have the potential to go beyond improving safety for motorcyclists and also integrate into trainer programmes with instructor schools. Numerous XR motorcycle instructional schools have trained world-class professional racers, and smart helmets may offer these motorcyclists and racers the next phase in their curricula.
Furthermore, logistics services, humanitarian efforts, and police, fire, and first responders worldwide could use these AR integrations to protect their servicepeople.
