Many a soccer fan has surely wanted to experience the true feeling of being on the field for a match. Now, a new virtual reality program actually makes that possible.
On the heels of a major leap in player tracking that utilizes iPhone cameras to map a true recreation of on-field events, the English Premier League is once again set to be a testing ground for a first-of-its-kind technology.
Rezzil, a UK company in the sports VR space, is launching its Premier League Player game today, just ahead of the holidays. The game is built on real-life player mechanics drawn from the data collected by the iPhone cameras positioned on the sidelines during games. The movements of the footballers are captured so precisely, users playing the VR game can virtually set foot on the pitch and reenact plays from actual EPL games.
Could this be the future of “gamified” virtual sports? I got exclusive access to Premier League Player and talked to Rezzil’s top staffers to find out how we got to this point and what’s still to come.
How We Got Here
This isn’t Rezzil’s first foray into virtual-reality sports. In 2021 the company debuted the Rezzil Player program across various VR platforms. Designed as a sports training game that combines both cognitive and gaming aspects, Rezzil Player features over 150 levels and drills across several sports, including soccer, football, and basketball, plus sport-agnostic drills that players can use to sharpen their reaction times.
Rezzil Player claims a diverse user base: NFL quarterbacks use its on-field simulations for timing and pocket presence; pro F1 drivers utilize interactive drills to hone their reaction skills, including a 360-degree game where players reach out to touch illuminated lights all around them; NBA trainers use it with players for drills involving peripheral vision or working memory. But it’s also played by a huge range of typical consumers, from youth athletes to fans who just enjoy the gamified experience.
I got a demo of Rezzil Player for this story as well, using a Meta Quest headset in my living room. It’s a wild experience, but it’s also easy to see how it could improve real-life performance with regular use; whether placebo effect or not, I felt my response times sharpening after spending just 15 minutes on the reaction-time drills. It’s also a great reminder of just how special the world’s best athletes are; worldwide leaderboards are available for every drill in Rezzil Player, and many of the scores seem outright impossible for a normal human being.
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