US Ski team member Laurenne Ross training using the STRIVR VR platform. (Image credit: U.S. Ski and Snowboard)
I love the Olympics. The Olympics is packed with technology. Over the 2018 Winter Games, I plan to cover a lot of the latest innovations in the games.
Skiers and snowboarders are hitting the games before heading off to the games as athletes are turning to VR for training before competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Typically, skiers and snowboards have limited access to the snow routes they will be competing on beforehand, limiting their preparation for the upcoming events. Now they have an edge, thanks to STIVR Labs- a tech company that trains everyone from Walmart to Lowes employees to sports athletes, including football, hockey and basketball players using virtual reality.
Now the company is working with the Utah-based governing board for US Ski & Snowboard (USSA) Foundation to train Olympians using 360-video and VR, allowing them to train on the actual routes in a virtual/video setting. High Performance director at US Ski and Snowboard Troy Taylor stated, “We first started working with STRIVR around two years ago. Since then, we have seen that the value of the work we do with STRIVR is confirmed in the feedback we have from our athletes and their coaches taking part in World Cup and Olympic events. They feel that 360 video and VR increases both the confidence and performance of the athletes in events.”
The athletes are using the STRIVR platform in multiple ways for the upcoming competition- inspections of the racecourse, learning the lines they will race through and even helping them to rehabilitate from injuries. The VR platform will help them mentally prepare for the particular race they will ski and features a reproduction of the route- showing them the position of the gates, the surrounding terrain, turns and jumps, most everything the actual course features.
The Athletes wear a VR headset to view their surroundings in a 360-degree setting, allowing them to see the route they will take as they simulate the skiing and snowboarding position while standing on a raised platform, providing them a new level of training beyond simple researching the racecourse. According to STRIVR co-founder Jeremy Bailenson, “In addition to rehearsing body motions and decisions, they will have an overall, holistic familiarity with the course, which will be invaluable as they traverse the actual mountain. I suspect that their mental preparation will be unmatched.”
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