A few years ago virtual reality seemed like the hottest new market on the block. Big companies were scooping up headset manufacturers. Analysts were forecasting head-turning growth.
Fast forward to 2018 and virtual reality has struggled to live up to the hype. Industry tracker IDC recently reported a 33.7 percent year-over-year decline in second quarter virtual reality headset shipments, while Richard Windsor, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, warned clients in a note on Monday about headwinds stunting the market’s growth.
“There is little doubt that the market for virtual reality has entered the trough of disillusionment and it will take real progress on the limitations of the technology before it comes out again,” he wrote.
The weaknesses blemishing this once shining industry, however, come at odds to what seems like steady adoption of virtual reality in sports. New teams, coaches, athletes, and leagues have signed on to use virtual reality for training over the past two years, while fitness companies have started to explore the use of virtual reality in gyms.
Strivr has made the biggest advancements in training, racking up a number of pro and NCAA teams since 2015 who now use its software for training. Ahead of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the U.S. Ski Team used Strivr’s technology to train for the South Korean slopes. The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys have used similar technology to supplement their weight room and offseason training, alongside a handful of other professional football teams. Division 1 NCAA football teams, such as Clemson and Stanford, also now regularly deploy Strivr’s tech as they seek reps in between games and seasons. The NFL has experimented with the technology to prep referees on live-game scenarios.
At a press conference earlier this month, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spent a six minutes detailing about how his football team uses virtual reality. The team, which has been using Strivr for the past three years, leverages virtual reality as a training and recruiting tool. For the latter, Clemson captures games in virtual reality to transport recruits into a stadium on gameday.
The vast majority of Clemon’s VR efforts, however, go to training, with quarterbacks, running backs, and linebackers running through an a virtually unlimited number of potential outcomes.
“Our quarterbacks use it for a seven-on-seven. They can basically run through a whole script because we have everything loaded up in our library so we can create whatever coverage we want based on the video we have, and it’s literally like you’re there,” Swinney said. “A running back can go in there and go through a whole blitz pickup reel. A linebacker can use it—all the formation recognition, all the fits, all the calls. Safeties, it’s great for safeties. It’s great for individual stuff—so maybe I’m a DB and I want to work on my hand placement and my footwork on the release of a receiver. Or I’m an offensive tackle and I’ve got all the release techniques of a defensive end, and I want to get in there and work on my sets. It’s just an amazing tool.”
Intel and NextVR have been at the forefront of providing virtual reality content for fans, enabling them to consume live and taped sports events from unique angles. NextVR has worked with the NBA to produce virtual reality highlights. Intel has worked with Turner to bring live March Madness games to fans in virtual reality and was at the forefront of VR content efforts at this year’s Winter Olympics.
Additionally, over the past year, there have been efforts to bring virtual reality into fitness. Life Fitness, one of the world’s biggest makers of treadmills, ellipticals and indoor bikes, has begun pitching an “immersive fitness” add-on experience to the gyms and universities that already use its equipment. Floyd Mayweather is opening a gym franchise with a focus on innovative technologies that includes virtual reality. At CES this year, the boxer announced a virtual reality boxing experience that enables people to get into the ring with him.
Still, the outlook on virtual reality overall remains mixed. IDC, for example, remains optimistic about the longevity of the market despite the sharp decline in headset sales last quarter. It views the sharp decline as a “temporary setback as the VR market finds its legs.” Others, however, are more skeptical.
“Already-expensive workout equipment could be made pricier with the inclusion of a VR element, but to what end?” said Roger Kay, a tech analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates. “Would your golf swing actually be any better?”