Sense Arena, a leader in virtual hockey training, is expanding its VR program with a “player” package. Previously Sense Arena was focused on the goaltender aspect of training but is now expanding to cover the on-court practice.
Most notable is the rapid adoption by NHL players with 10 professional goaltenders using them during the offseason or during recovery from injuries to stay in practice.”It’s a perfect tool to keep working on my game and to keep my brain active without putting any wear and tear on my body and my hips”, said Antoine Bibeau, a Canadian goaltender, who is recovering from hip surgery.
Sense Arena’s training program is sold to consumers in a prepackaged kit with an Oculus Quest 2, controller attachments to either the goaltender pads or hockey stick, and the software license. The software for the program incurs a monthly license fee ranging from $66 for the average consumer to $239 for professional teams and training facilities. The training program includes drills with real-life video blended into the VR environment as well as AI bots for more complicated training. With some NHL teams already signing multi-year contracts with Sense Arena, it would seem they have made a compelling enough package for even professional sports teams to adopt into their regime. As XR equipment gets more refined, it could expand to cover more types of sports or activities for training practice proving once again that XR training is gaining momentum and a stronger training foothold for both consumers and professionals alike.
