Study reveals mixed reality has potential to become future of high-tech coaching in team sports

Jun 18, 2022

New Delhi, June 18 (ANI): Each pitcher believes there is enough gas for another shot, but the invention by New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Associate Professor Tao Han has the potential to forever change the old gaze down the hill between the player and the coach. A coach wearing a mixed-reality headset could receive real-time statistics and facial interpretation data to evaluate whether the pitcher is right to stand his ground, what he should change or whether it's time to call the bullpen, while also interfacing with a team of analysts and trainers who work remotely and see the same information. As today's baseball analytics are called sabermetrics, then one might say Han's high-tech version, applicable to any sport, is a lightsaber. He calls it holographic telepresence and obtained a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps grant to commercialise the technology, which he calls a holographic telepresence system. NJIT is a key participant in the NSF I-Corps program. In explaining why it's important to bring mixed reality and telepresence to sports, Han noted, “We use much more Zoom and Webex than before, and more and more companies adopt hybrid working modes [such as] three days a week in the office and two days at home. But, until now, we only have 2D online environments which are less efficient in engaging people as compared to in-person.”