Jalen Hurts of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball as Ryan Carter of the Clemson Tigers defends in the second half of the AllState Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 1, 2018. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
When Alabama and Clemson take the field for today’s College Football Playoff national championship game, they will both likely have a host of sports science and technology information and hardware to thank for the fact that their 2018 seasons have run longer than any other college teams. One device they share in common is a vision training system made by Senaptec.
Senaptec Sensory Station. (Courtesy of Senaptec)
The Tide and Tigers use Senaptec’s Sensory Station, which features a large touchscreen that tests various skills such as hand-eye coordination, object tracking, and dynamic vision through a user tracking and responding to moving lights. The system can also test responses at a distance, mimicking the distance vision requirements of sports, with the user controlling it through a mobile device.
“Your brain discards 80% of the visual information you intake, so we help individuals process more of the incoming information, and in a faster manner, to improve performance and brain health,” said Joe Bingold, Senaptec’s CEO, in a press release. “Senaptec products are like weightlifting for your visual system. In weightlifting, you strain and break down a muscle to rebuild it stronger. Our technology relies on a similar principle, resisting vision through stroboscopic techniques, vision blocking and precision coordination drills, to help build strong new neural connections from the eye to the brain.”
Senaptec was co-founded by former Nike director of innovation, Herb Yoo, and much of its technology was spun out of research performed within Nike’s R&D department. As well as the Sensory Station, Senaptec also makes strobe glasses with LED lenses that can flicker between clear and opaque. These aim to reduce access to visual information, training the brain to more efficiently process the information that does get through.
As well as being used by college teams, Senaptec has a host of clients in pro sports, including the New England Patriots, Chicago Cubs, Portland Trail Blazers, and Detroit Red Wings. Its products have also been used by the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy—Bingold is an eight-year U.S. Navy veteran—and in the treatment of concussions, strokes, and multiple sclerosis.
Senaptec will be running a training station at CES 2019 in Las Vegas this week, allowing visitors to see how well their reactions compare to those of top-level pro athletes.
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