Visual training programs for sports: taking advantage of new technologies
Quevedo Lluisa i Junyent
Sports coaches, athletes and scientists are constantly in search of new means to enhance sports performance and gain a competitive advantage. Visual-cognitive skills are crucial performance determinants in most sports, where fast and accurate decisions are required in a complex and rapidly changing environment. The issue of enhancing the visual and visual-motor skills in athletes to boost athletic results has led to several investigations (Clark, Ellis, Bench, Khoury, et al. 2012; Kofsky & Starfield, 1989; McLeod 1991; Quevedo & Solé, 1995; Wimshurst, Sowden & Cardinale, 2012) with different results and conclusions to take into account. Sports vision training programs have a relatively long history of use (Berman 1988; Fullerton 1921; Knudson & Kluka 1997; Schwab & Memmert 2012). However, the past few years with the amazing growth in new digital technologies, we seem to be in front of a new paradigm (Applebaum & Erickson, 2016).
Brain VT Sports Vision, a new online training program based on an artificial intelligenceplatform has been developed as an internet-based, self-administered visual intervention. Size, shape, color and number and timing of stimulus presentation and response are all customized to the patient’s needs. There are a lot of levels according to task difficulty, making ceiling and floor effects unlikely.
Finally we will expose how we employ this technology in our daily clinical practice at the Olympic Training Center in Sant Cugat (Barcelona).
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