Buffs Employ Virtual Reality Technology In Spring Practices
March 12, 2018 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Watching "film" has been a tool utilized by football teams for almost as long as the game has existed.
The benefits are clear: it offers players and coaches the chance to see the entire field at once, giving them the ability to see how plays unfold, how players react in certain situations and what remedies can be utilized to correct errors.
Digital technology has no doubt advanced the process. Today's video is sharper, "fast forward" and "rewind" are much quicker, and the ability to deliver the video to coaches and players has advanced to the point that by the time practice is over, players and coaches can have video from that practice available on their tablets and desktop computers.
But a fairly recent innovation might provide the most dramatic change in the process in decades:
Welcome to the world of virtual reality and football, a process that now allows players (and coaches) the chance to have a three-dimensional view of action on the field exactly as players saw it unfold in front of them.
This spring, the Colorado football team is utilizing VR for the first time. Players wear small cameras on their helmets in practice and can then don VR goggles later on and review what they saw in 11-on-11 drills, scrimmage situations and even individual work.
"It gives our quarterbacks and our secondary and linebackers a view of live action and the chance to see a play through a player's eyes," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "The quarterback can go back and watch it from his view, not just the (traditional) camera view. It's the same for the linebackers and safeties. … We're excited about it because we think it's going to be a big benefit for us."
CU Director of Football Operations Bryan McGinnis said VR technology for football has been around for a couple of years. But it has now reached the point, he said, that advancements have made it a viable tool.
XOS Digital, the company that handles all of CU's video editing software, approached the football team last year about the possibility of implementing VR.
"Their ability to integrate into the system we already have in place was really key," McGinnis said. "We always want to continue exploring different avenues of improving our team through technology, and what they offered was very good."
McGinnis said the potential for VR is "limitless" when it comes to helping players improve their games.
"By filming what goes on in practice from the point of view of a player and then being able to go back and put on a virtual reality headset gives them the ability to get that many more reps without putting physical strain on your body," McGinnis said. "Think about the quarterback or a linebacker — after spring ball ends and until fall camp starts, he can get 100 to 200 more reps in. He can learn a system better, train his eyes better, get a better feel for everything that's happening on the field as if he is out there in the middle of it. It goes for any position — it's a big help in training your eyes to look in the right place and evaluate what you are seeing."
Thus far, the Buffs have had a variety of players wearing helmets in practice, including quarterback Steven Montez, linebacker Rick Gamboa and safety Nick Fisher. They are also using it with special teams players, giving kickers and punters an idea of where their eyes are during a kick, as well as a look at their protection.
"It's a 360-degree viewing capability that gives us the ability to do a lot of different things from a lot of different perspectives," McGinnis said. "We think it's a tool that will have all kinds of uses the more we work with it."
Gamboa said the VR sessions are helpful, and not just those from his camera. He also studies the video from other players' cameras to give him an idea of what the action looks like from different vantage points.
"It lets me go back and see everything that I was seeing my point of view instead of from up top or from the sideline," Gamboa said. "I also like being able to see from someone else's point of view. I was able to see what Montez is looking at from an offensive standpoint and I was able to see what Nick Fisher is looking at from a safety's standpoint. Seeing different views of what other people are seeing gives you a really good idea of how things are happening in the middle of a play. I really like it — I think it's going to help. if I miss something, I can go back and see where I was looking and what I might have missed."
Montez said it will be another tool that should be helpful throughout the offseason and into next fall.
"I'm excited about it," Montez said. "I think it will add a different element to our studying. We'll be able to get extra reps because you see it the way it happened on the field. It will definitely add a different dimension to how we study the game."
The technology is the closest thing yet to a practice repetition without actually being on the field. Coaches believe it will be a big boon in the offseason, as players can continue to get a feel for live action during times of the year when they aren't on the field.
"It's another use of technology and trying to be smarter with student athletes," McGinnis said. "You can continue to train their minds without putting physical wear and tear on their bodies."
The technology should also be a help to young players who don't get as much time in live 11-on-11 drills in regular practices.
"It's a great tool for our young quarterbacks," McGinnis said. "For a young quarterback trying to develop that part of his game — where his eyes are going, what he's seeing, what he should be looking at — the more repetitions you get the better off you are. And this gives each one of the them the chance for more reps, even in the offseason."
MacIntyre said he believes the technology will also be helpful during game weeks, when the Buffs practice against an opposing team's offensive and defensive alignments. After practice, players will have the chance to take another look at those schemes from an on-the-field vantage point instead of the traditional, two-dimensional "eye-in-the-sky" perspective.
"It's closer to getting live reps during the offseason and during the week of the game," MacIntyre said. "You get more live reps looking at what you will be seeing that weekend. That should help all of our players."
PRACTICE NOTES: The Buffs went through a shorts-and-shoulder-pads workout Monday morning. They have six more practices this spring, including Saturday's 1 p.m. "Spring Showcase" at Folsom Field. … Head coach Mike MacIntyre said tackle Isaac Miller, who has been plagued by knee injuries during his time at CU, will undergo another surgery. MacIntyre said Miller definitely won't play this year, and may not play again. The No. 1 priority, he said, is ensuring a long-term good quality of life for Miller. … MacIntyre also said wide receiver Jay MacIntyre, CU's leading returning receiver, will undergo foot surgery later this week. The CU senior played through last season with a foot injury, but it hasn't healed in the offseason.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
