Augmented reality arrives, the new way to train
From an idea by Maestro Gianluca Carbone, augmented reality expert Gian Piero Gigli developed an app for tennis training through visual training.
The need was to replicate what happens in the real world in the virtual one, through a simulation of a ball machine that could launch balls from different angles and at different speeds. Through the app, it becomes possible to carry the tennis court with you so you never have to give up a training session or a tennis match: you can play in different contexts, on uphill and downhill terrain or on sand. A general training session can thus turn into a specific one.
Thanks to augmented reality, virtual elements are inserted into the real world. Once the app is launched, you need to place the smartphone inside the viewer so that the camera frames the real world: this is the difference between augmented reality and virtual reality. Augmented reality allows you to add virtual elements to the real world, such as a tennis court, a virtual ball, and filters related to visual training.
Unlike the exercises known so far, which concern only visual or auditory stimuli, the athlete moves trying to hit the incoming balls while holding the racket. The exercises are fundamental for training foot proprioception and managing body weight with loss of balance, forward and backward, caused by uneven terrain: footwork (training of foot placement) is thus pushed to the extreme as the athlete tries to manage the loss of balance. At the same time, the training becomes specific through the use of the racket to hit the incoming balls: without the viewer it would be simpler and less energy-consuming.