In trying to explain what his product, SoccerDream, seeks to achieve, Andreu Bartolí, Co-Founder & CEO, highlights what he calls “soccer IQ” a number of times. This is because, his company is seeking to develop soccer players’ intelligence when it comes to the sport, through a virtual reality technology platform.
In trying to reach this lofty goal, the company has faced some considerable changes recently.
First, it rebranded from EkkonoVirtualTraining to the more aptly named SoccerDream. The decision to restart with a fresh brand was also a reflection of Bartolí’s wider vision for what the product could do.
“The dream that we have is to provide to every child in the world, no matter their resources, origin or borders, the opportunity to develop their full soccer potential through the leading VR or AR technology,” he explained.
SoccerDream, aimed primarily at soccer clubs and academies, works through a HTC Hive headset which enables users to stay stationary and look around in 360 degrees while making decisions on a VR soccer pitch by using the controllers in their hands. This is delivered in a series of virtual soccer exercises, that according to Bartolí “are designed to cover as many as 100 soccer abilities to train and play, which we identified as the ones that can impact the most the performance of any player.”
Initially, a training program is put together depending on the abilities that a player and also his or her club wishes them to achieve. From this starting point, a personalized player scorecard also evaluates how these abilities have evolved over time, providing a final “soccer IQ.”
The product has been created with SoccerDream’s strategic partner, called Ekkono Method, a cognitive soccer training approach. This Method is already endorsed by some notable soccer players including Chelsea and Spanish international team player Cesc Fabregas who said it helped him “to better understand soccer and become a professional player.”
Despite players being stationary throughout the entire experience, Bartolí stressed that this focus on the mental aspect of the game could raise soccer IQ and “the higher it is, the better players gather information in the field, process it, take decisions, and anticipate, which hugely impacts their overall performance.” He outlined that using the platform, even just for “one session, totaling seven minutes every week impacts a player’s performance on the field.”
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The second big change for SoccerDream, to tie in with this rebrand, was that it was also selected by HTC for its second accelerator program along with over 30 other technology companies. The firm entered through the online application process for a chance to take part in the program, called Vive X, which is committed to investing $100 million in VR.
Marc Metis, global head of Vive X, said in an interview regarding SoccerDream’s program: “Vive X works with the most promising VR/AR companies to advance innovation and move the whole industry forward. We’re continuing to invest in and support the development of foundational platform services and hardware advancements, as well as expanding areas like enterprise, commerce, education, health, social, and esports.”
The deal will see the company receive funding from HTC and according to Bartolí to “participate in our company.”
He continued: “From a product perspective, this deal allows us to ensure we always have access to the most cutting edge technology to help our product deliver its goal, accelerate the product launch to the market, and generate global awareness.”
He also cited the performance of the HTC Vive headset to date, which has sold 420,000 units and also HTC’s content distribution platform, Viveport, an Apple-style app store for VR owned by the Taiwanese technology giant, as the benefits of the deal too.
Currently the product is only available at what the company has called the SoccerDream Lab, based in Barcelona, Spain. Bartolí detailed that a select number of young soccer players are already using the product, while the company seeks to wrap up its research and development of the product.
Regarding future potential partnerships with professional soccer clubs and academies, Bartolí wrote that SoccerDream will be closing a number of deals with “a small selection of top clubs,” soon, yet the pricing for the product has not be disclosed as of yet. SoccerDream is seeking to launch in 2018.