Virtual Reality Brain Training for Athletes

One of the obvious benefits brain training programs may have is in an increase in the ability to solve problems in school and in daily life. However, some people are exploring new fields in which to utilize brain training technology. People like Jocelyn Faubert of the University of Montreal are exploring brain training software and the benefits it may have on athletes.

Faubert uses Wayne Gretzky to emphasize that it takes a lot more than exceptional athletic ability in order to be a super star in any sport. He declares that the super star's amazing career in hockey was not due to a superior athletic ability, but rather his amazing ability to perceive, predict, and react to all kinds of circumstances on the ice. This mental agility that Gretzky held is what Faubert is attempting to pass on to athletes around the world.

He has developed a set of software that provides training programs designed to increase athlete's ability to perceive and react on the field. The coolest part about this software is that it's designed to work in an immersive 3D environment. EON Reality produces a 3 sided room like structure designed to give its user the visual appearance of being in another space (It looks pretty awesome from the demo on the webpage). Add on a motion tracking device and some fairly sophisticated simulations can be achieved.

The software is a compilation of simulation movements and training games. Some of the activities seem to be similar in concept to the sports games on the Wii console. The other types of games are more interesting. They focus on increasing concentration, perception, information management, and decision making. They appear to be pretty similar to the kind of games produced by a lot of other brain training companies, just with a virtual reality twist.

The setup looks like a lot of fun, a sort of Wii on steroids, but I wonder if it's really necessary. If the same sort of brain training games can be replicated on the computer what is the advantage of the 3D setup, besides being more fun and engaging? This question really boils down to a core problem in the area of brain training. Do the increases you see under the brain training program transfer over into different contexts of life? Does increasing your score at some brain training game by 300% make you score 300% higher on your next exam? The problem of transferring the success seen in the brain training games to other real life situations is an important one.

So, let's go back to the original question of why not just play the games while sitting down on the computer. The problem may be that increases seen on games while at the computer are not transferred over into athletic activities. Research done by Thorndike and Woodworth (1901) show that the more similar the learning event and new event are the more transfer will occur (the theories on transfer of learning are incredibly controversial). If this is true then it makes sense that realistic physical movement of virtual reality should result in more transfer of improvements to athletes. Faubert just might be on to something.

In any case athletes are trying. The richest sports club in the world is willing to give it a try.