Jan 2, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) runs out of the pocket in the first quarter of the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes at EverBank Field. The Tennessee Volunteers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
With 24 years as the Sports Technology Coordinator at the University of Tennessee under his belt, Joe Harrington’s job description primarily includes the compiling and editing of game and practice tapes, along with cataloging those, digitizing them and managing Tennessee’s video department.
In other words, Harrington is the go-to-guy if you are a Tennessee football player wanting a bit of film.
But, Harrington took his job title to a new level this summer, single-handedly developing his own virtual reality system.
It all started with a demo from virtual reality heavyweight STRIVR Labs. The company, co-founded by Stanford graduate assistant coach Derek Belch, came to showcase their technology to the Tennessee coaching and backroom staff.
Following the meeting, Harrington felt like he may be able to duplicate the system, which would ultimately save the program a good amount of money.
“But in watching it (the STRIVR demo), I started to see that all the things that they were selling were available just to buy,” he told the Times Free Press. “What they were selling, it wasn’t any kind of proprietary stuff. After the demo was over, I was like, ‘I think I can do this on my own.’”
Subsequently, Harrington strapped six GoPros on a rig—a stand-in for the 360-degree camera that STRIVR uses. He then used certain software that was able to stitch together those camera views into one consolidated piece of film.
A student assistant holds that rig, generally about seven yards behind the quarterback, and thus the video portion of the virtual reality system is captured.
This then hooks up to a high-powered computer, which is further connected to the Oculus Rift, one of the leading virtual reality headsets on the market.
While this may sound simple, it is assuredly no easy task. It takes an expert’s eye in both the world of filming and computer programming.
Harrington’s creation is primarily made for the uses of Tennessee quarterbacks, allowing them the best position on the field to analyze their reads, and even getting a few more reps, albeit virtually.
For the future of his invention, Harrington is hoping to be able to fasten his six GoPros to the drone that Tennessee sometimes uses for practice. This would give the secondary a perfect view of their positioning during practice.
