Stab Magazine | Virtual Reality Will Shove Surfing Forward

Live Now: Chapter 11 Mini-Documentary With Dane Reynolds

681 Views

Virtual Reality Will Shove Surfing Forward

Moreso than wavepools, even.

news // Jul 14, 2017
Words by stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Had an interesting conversation the other night.

The guy I spoke with was a real nerd. He had pale skin and dark hair that frizzed into a ponytail and dangled down onto his malnourished back. The graphics on his t-shirt were snide and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some cysts, somewhere. He was friendly. Per his desire, we discussed virtual reality.

For clarity’s sake, this is not Virtual Reality.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/cTAGCDqimEQ

By definition, VR is the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment.

You can’t just point six GoPros at Kelly Slater on a boat and expect the results to feel real. That is shit.

In VR, the objective is to perceive an artificial experience as a real experience. It is to create a world, and to have your brain actually believe in it. I question the future of film-based virtual reality though — who’s going to put on a weird headset and stare around drooling everywhere like a fucking llama when it’s already hard enough to watch an Instagram clip north of 11 seconds? The answer to that question: those who really, really love porn.

So I don’t think there’s a huge virtual reality future for surf films. Using it as a tool to improve surfing, though, is a different story.

Visualisation has wild effects on performance. A study showed that people gained muscle after only visualising a workout. If you visualise blood flowing to certain parts of your body during a stroke, blood will actually flow there. Visualisations under hypnosis enabled male gymnasts (ha!) to land shit they’d been working on for over a year. You can find articles from dumb-faced bohemian sheep with blogs to clinical studies straight from the Ivy League on the subject. But, the consensus all around is that it works.

And it’ll work even better once you throw some VR in the mix to really fuck with your brain.

There’s a company called STRIVR in the valley of Silicon and acronyms. They work with a variety of major professional sports teams and the results are shown in somewhat confounding graphics on their website. One of its founders, Jeremy Bailenson explained what they do.

“We measure exactly how the body moves, and we replicate the senses for those movements. … It’s a constant technological system that tracks body movement and updates the sights, sounds and touch based on those movements. You feel like you’re mentally transported into a different place.”

While my pony-tailed comrade was no Jeremy Bailenson, he said that VR Designers are in incredibly high demand in the nerd industry. The future, he explained, is going to come up fast.

Soon enough, technology like STRIVR won’t just be available to people who play for the Dallas Cowboys. You’ll be able to feel things in surfing before you actually do them and your brain will think it’s real. Imagine the confidence that’ll create when it comes to big waves or even the body mechanics of sneaking in that extra spin. The impact of VR will be grander than that of wave pools — which cost a lot of money and offer way fewer possibilities.

What does that mean for you, the common man, the one out at some lonely grey sandbar at dawn on a Tuesday?

Depends. Are you willing to wear a face mask and wrestle invisible gorillas in your living room in order to surf better? If so, you’re on in a few years. And if not, kick back and enjoy the progression in our sport. And maybe steal somebody’s beer while they’re in VR.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Watch: What Happens When A Brand Takes Its Youth Team To A CT Event?

A: Good things, typically.

Mar 29, 2024

Full Frame: Scandinavia Is Surfing’s Next Frontier

A 30-hour drive, bathymetric maps, and 10 years of searching yield surfing's newest discovery.

Mar 29, 2024

Watch: João Chianca Had A Remarkable Hawaii Season Before His Injury

Plus an update on his condition.

Mar 28, 2024

Pittar’d And Feathered

Do the WSL judges deserve the internet's wrath? We asked the man of the hour.

Mar 28, 2024

Robbo, Pickles, And Tyler Wright Become The Underdogs Breakfast At Uninspiring Winkipop

The foreboding blade sharpens and inconsistent judging prevails on Day Two in Torquay.

Mar 27, 2024

“I Don’t Always Win Heats, But When I Do, I Try To Beat John John”

Slater shines and the axe begins its descent on Day 01 at Bells.

Mar 26, 2024

Back Against The Wall: The Ramzi Boukhiam Redemption

Morocco's first CT surfer on speaking six languages, having no coach, and snatching Fil Toledo's…

Mar 25, 2024

Will Kirra, Babies or JJF Stop a GOAT Winning at Bells?

Bluesky BOAG advice from a Superman specialist and former Trials winner.

Mar 25, 2024

Bells Preview: The WSL’s Victorian Sword Dancing Equinox Ritual

Will a Brazilian crack the Top 10 at Bells?

Mar 25, 2024

69 Shin Bones Later + the Anticlimactic State of Big Wave Record-Breaking

Lucas Chumbo might have surfed the biggest wave ever this year. But how will we…

Mar 23, 2024

Watch: ‘Fresh and Fried’ Ft the Quik Kids

How taxing is it to tackle the Gold Coast’s Triple Crown in a single day,…

Mar 23, 2024

The Popular Vote: The People’s Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino Champion

Which board looked best — to you —under Kolohe's talons?

Mar 22, 2024

Six Key Learnings From Portugal

Three CT events in, what do we know? 

Mar 21, 2024

‘Zipper’ Is Going On Tour, Here’s Where You Can Watch It  

Dates, times + locations for the Venice, Encinitas, Sydney + Byron premieres.  

Mar 20, 2024

Dane Reynolds On His Future, His Past, And Chapter 11’s Raison D’être

Our 9-minute plunge into the collective psyche of Ventura's pillar(s).

Mar 20, 2024

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley Explains Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024
Advertisement