XOS Technologies, a leading technology provider for collegiate and professional sports teams, has officially begun the first stage of implementing its new XOS PlayAction Simulator Powered by EA Sports at both the collegiate and NFL levels today. On the college side, the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team will be the first university to utilize the PC laptop component of this technology, which allows coaches to transfer X's and O's for weekly opponents into a 3D playable simulator for quarterbacks to study."We're leading the nation by taking advantage of this cutting-edge technology and we couldn't be more pumped about it," said UT head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "UT football has a long and storied tradition of success and because we look to pioneer groundbreaking concepts before anyone else, we'll proudly continue that history. The XOS PlayAction Simulator begins a new chapter for UT and we're pleased to add it to our football training regiment."
Using the same TDT engine technology that powered Madden NFL 07 and NCAA Football 07 on PC, the XOS PlayAction Sim has been included on Dell Latitude D820 laptops that the UT coaching staff currently has been using as they prepare for the season opener against Cal.
Albert Tsai, vice president of advanced research at XOS Technologies, said that the scalable program is currently focused on the quarterback position, which is what the market demanded. The software allows the quarterback to play and replay the plays for an upcoming opponent from their dorms, rather than just on the field.
"We'll lag behind EA by about a half a year in terms of new Madden gameplay features," said Tsai. "Version 1 of this product focuses on the QB, but over the course of this season we'll add other offensive players to the mix. The plan is for the next football season, we want to support all 22 players on the field on both offense and defense."
Tsai said each year the company will pick and choose which advances in the Madden game will be added to its product. He said they're not interested in things like Franchise mode, but new animations and artificial intelligence will enhance the experience for the company's long list of clients, which includes 95 percent of the BCS schools and most NFL teams.
In addition to Tennessee, which is the exclusive trial school for this technology this year, Tsai said XOS Technologies has informal trials with other college teams going on this year. But next season is when the company's making a big splash to sell this software to both the college and professional sports franchises.
The second half of the XOS PlayAction Sim involves cutting-edge virtual reality and motion-capture technology. An undisclosed NFL team is already using the advanced version of the simulation technology with its quarterbacks. This technology will also be offered to any universities that want it next year.
The XOS SportMotion studio enables athletes to literally immerse their physical bodies into the virtual game, while specially equipped head-mounted displays and body sensors would track and record each movement for strength and conditioning analysis.
"Military sims have been using virtual reality for a while, but soldiers are used to carrying heavy equipment in the field," said Tsai. "With football, athletes need to simulate the on-field experience, so we've had to wait for computer technology to shrink. Now we have the ability for a player to carry a small computer with them in a mo-cap studio, wearing the mo-cap outfits and throwing a real ball that has been taped for mo-cap."
The player wears a helmet with a first-person heads-up display that allows him to drop back five steps, pick a receiver and throw the actual ball in their direction--all using 3D technology that makes the field look like he's inside a game of Madden NFL 07. The technology tracks every element of the throw, including the ball's velocity and direction, and allows coaches to analyze the athlete.
"We can expand to two players simultaneously, if we need to," said Tsai. "The only restriction is space. While the quarterback simply needs to drop back and throw, a receiver needs space to run a pattern."
After getting all the coaching feedback from the college and professional ranks, both products will roll out next year for the 2008-09 college football and NFL seasons. Tsai said the technology will be shown to college football coaches at the American Football Coaches Association meeting in January and NFL coaches will see it at the NFL combine and Senior Bowl in spring 2008.
XOS Technologies specializes in Coaching Solutions and Facilities Design & Integration. Through these areas of expertise, XOS helps teams and leagues in every sport integrate video, data and interactive technologies to assure maximum return on each investment. Tsai said EA Sports has used the company's technology for several years in working internally on the Madden game franchise at its EA Tiburon Studio, which is located just down the road from the XOS Technologies office.
by John Gaudiosi
SOURCE:GAMEDAILY.COM
