HOUSTON – (July 31, 2015) – Rice Athletics has joined a select number of schools in taking a bold technological leap forward by partnering with STRIVR Labs on an immersive virtual reality platform that replicates the field experience in the classroom.
“Today we’ve taken a big step toward the future by embracing the cutting-edge field of virtual reality,” said Joe Karlgaard, director of Athletics at Rice. “We believe this technology perfectly aligns with the spirit of innovation on our campus, and we can’t wait to use it for the benefit of our athletic programs. “
The Owls join Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Dartmouth as the first schools to embrace this technology, while the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings are the first NFL teams to adopt it.
“It’s amazing the strides that technology continues to take within our game, and it is exciting that Rice can be at the forefront of his newest innovation,” said Rice head football coach David Bailiff. “This system creates an entirely new level of instruction for our players and redefines the concept of mental reps, which in turn will make our actual practice time on the field more productive. To be able to replicate the field-level experience in a classroom is a game-changer for our players and coaches.”
While the most obvious application of the system in football is geared toward the starting quarterback and making his reads against an opposing defense, it also allows backups virtual repetitions that would not be available during field practice time. At the same time, the technology is easily adaptable to offer the same experience to defensive players.
Established in 2015 and headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., STRIVR Labs Inc. is a virtual-reality technology company that provides cutting-edge training solutions to sports teams. STRIVR’s patent-pending technology was developed and proven during the 2014 football season at Stanford University. Former Stanford kicker Derek Belch developed the program that uses an Oculus Rift headset and headphones to bring the action on the field to life wherever the set is worn.
“With this system we have created a way to bring the experience of the playing field into the classroom,” Belch said. “With all the current discussions about the physical demands of the game today because of the pace of play, this allows players to continue to prepare while not being physically taxed.
“Rice is the first team in Conference USA to take this step,” Belch said. “The Owls are blazing a trail that separates them from the pack, which is certainly an advantage both in their preparations of their current players and in their recruitment of future Owls.”
The introduction of the STRIVR Labs system is the latest in a series of cutting-edge technologies that Rice has introduced in recent years.
In 2013 the Owls became the first college football team to partner with APTUS Assessments to implement their testing to identify how each individual player defines, processes and executes instructions and information to develop the most efficient platform for learning.
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,888 undergraduates and 2,610 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked among some of the top schools for best quality of life by the Princeton Review and for best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” click here.