VR Solution Development for Training Simulation in American Football

SportsVTS is a US-based company that creates simulated reality training experiences. Their primary goal is to provide athletes with the opportunity to combine real-world repetitions within the immersive VR environment. They aimed to develop a VR solution that would enable players, specifically quarterbacks in American football, to minimize the injury risk and maximize their performance by training in virtual reality. The company wanted to create a realistic training simulation that would allow a quarterback to master various techniques within a controlled environment and improve his playing ability without the risk of injury.

SportsVTS, a US-based company that creates simulated reality training experiences, aimed to develop a VR solution that would enable players to minimize the injury risk and maximize their performance by training in virtual reality. The primary business goal was to create a realistic training simulation to enable a quarterback to master various techniques within a controlled environment and improve his playing ability without the risk of injury. The challenges included developing an AI component to maximize user experience realism, using full-body 3D scan for highly-detailed and hyper-realistic character models, applying corrective BlendShapes for recreating the player’s skeleton and body, using Locomotion Extend System to allow the player to access any part of the field smoothly, developing the character customization system based on real NFL players, tracing the ball trajectory to re-create it with maximum accuracy, integrating the experience with VR hardware, and developing functionality for setting 21 other players on the field.

N-iX, a team of VR experts specializing in 3D graphics, animation, Unreal Engine development, Oculus, Optitrack System, motion capture, and other technologies developed QBSIM, a realistic simulation solution integrated with the latest VR hardware. The team prototyped key gameplay features like ball catching simulation and locomotion of the player, as well as created a mock-up with 3D motion capture. They developed a catching system on the basis of the ball grid and created the ball catching animation with Inverse Kinematics System. Optitrack System was used to accurately track the ball in real-time. Data about NFL players was used for game analysis and player behavior monitoring. This data allowed the implementation of the State Machine and AI for the leg detection system to ensure smooth and realistic movements. Other players were also developed and integrated into the gameplay for an even more efficient quarterback training.

• The VR simulation created by N-iX helps professional QBs train in realistic environments. Motion capture and ball simulation backed by gigabytes of data about the top NFL players ensure an ultimately realistic training experience. A complementary app was also developed that allows setting the routes and positions of the players before the VR training session. To simplify the player performance tracking, the application features a system of repeated playing sessions. As a result, the solution fundamentally changes the approach to QB training. It enables the players to improve their passing mechanics while developing scheme recognition, decision-making awareness, and play making abilities.

• Developed a VR solution backed by gigabytes of data about the top NFL players

• Achieved ultra-realistic 3D Graphics

• Implemented data performance tracking and analytics