It could sound like science fiction, however US skiers have been utilizing digital actuality and headphones that zap the mind, to realize a aggressive edge on the Winter Olympics.

The US are sending a star-studded group to South Korea with the likes of Olympic champions Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin competing.

US Ski group excessive efficiency director Troy Taylor advised BBC Sport concerning the leading edge know-how the group has used as they go for gold in Pyeongchang.

“It is concerning the small good points,” stated Taylor, who’s initially from Bournemouth. “There’s typically a couple of tenths of a second between first and 10th place.

“Talent acquisition and motor studying is the holy grail of sports activities science, the flexibility to be taught quicker than others is important.”

VR offers ‘psychological entry’ to Olympic slopes

By the point the Olympics begins on Friday, most of the world’s high skiers may have had solely a handful of runs on the programs within the Taebaek mountains.

However not the US group.

They’ve spent the previous 12 months getting acquainted with the course, memorising the twists and turns and gate positions, all because of using 360-degree software program and digital actuality headsets.

The Jeongseon Alpine Centre will host the downhill and Tremendous G occasions and in addition held World Cups in 2016 and 2017.

That allowed the US group to movie the course with the assistance of STRIVR’s 360-degree video, which they watch on Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear headsets.

They captured a run on the slopes, permitting athletes to re-live the course over and over, giving them “psychological entry” to it.

You possibly can watch an instance of that footage under.

Athletes have additionally paired the headsets with stability boards to imitate the sensation of being on the slopes and transfer in time with the video.

“The Olympics is the largest occasion in an athlete’s life and it would not take a genius to work out that snowboarding on a slope six occasions just isn’t optimum time,” stated Taylor.

“The clear benefit of VR is that it’s an effective way to assist athletes get extra used to and be taught particular programs, which is an apparent efficiency profit.

“They really feel they know the programs they may race on higher, so once they come to ski on it throughout a race they enter the beginning gate with an elevated confidence stage. That may be a huge a part of competitors, having the boldness to assault components of the course the place you could find time.

“Athletes can watch of their resort rooms and get a greater understanding of what the course presents to them and assist them with visible approach.”

It would not cease there although, they’ve even been in a position to manipulate the footage, altering the climate and light-weight.

Mind stimulation

One other piece of apparatus that every one athletes on the US Ski group’s centre of excellence in Utah have had entry to is the Halo Sport headset.

What seems like a pair of headphones, truly has comfortable foam nibs that transmit electrical currents to the motor cortex, the a part of the mind liable for motion.

The speculation is that stimulating the motor cortex will speed up the good points in coaching. When paired with prime quality coaching it’s believed this could enhance power, explosiveness, endurance, and muscle reminiscence.

The know-how referred to as transcranial direct present stimulation just isn’t new and has been used to assist stroke victims and sufferers with Parkinson’s illness.

The US Nordic mixed skiers have had probably the most success with Halo, seeing enhancements of their ski leaping throughout a trial.

“Jumpers skilled much less wobble and utilized extra drive of their jumps,” stated Taylor.

“Halo affords a singular and new know-how with the flexibility to extend the mind’s means to be taught new expertise, which has by no means been finished earlier than.”

A 3rd little bit of equipment getting used is Vima’s strobe glasses.

The glasses flicker between opaque and clear. They will cut back imaginative and prescient in each eyes by displaying motion intermittently or blocking out imaginative and prescient in a single eye.

“The glasses have this shutter, taking imaginative and prescient away and giving it again actually quick. You possibly can regulate it and take extra data away,” stated US males’s alpine head coach Sasha Rearick.

“Taking data away in a strobe style wakes up the mind to take and use data it does see and course of it quicker and higher.”

They’ve seen a rise in efficiency in strengthening skiers’ non-dominant eye.

The speculation is that everybody has a dominant eye and that will trigger skiers to develop a weaker activate one facet. To repair that the glasses strobe the non-dominant eye to assist strengthen it.

It could additionally enhance imaginative and prescient processing, visible consideration, and the flexibility to anticipate the timing of transferring gadgets.

You possibly can see how the glasses are utilized in coaching within the video under.

No funding? Simply innovate

The 10,000-hour rule concept, claims the important thing to being world class in a ability is to observe it for 10,000 hours, however Taylor says it’s nearly inconceivable for skiers to achieve that mark.

“We attempt to get on the snow 150-200 days a 12 months and are chasing snow world wide,” stated Taylor.

“Every time we’re on the snow we get possibly six to 10 coaching runs, for about 30-60 seconds at a time, so that’s solely three to 10 minutes a day. Instances that by 150-200 days and it’s roughly 10-20 hours a 12 months – not even near 10,000 hours.

“So how can we be taught quicker than different groups? How can get extra out of coaching classes?”.

There’s additionally the difficulty of funding in US Olympic sport.

Not like its opponents, the US Ski group does not receive any authorities funding. As a substitute it depends on personal donations and sponsorship.