Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

PanoCoach: Enhancing Tactical Coaching and Communication in Soccer with Mixed-Reality Telepresence

Andrew Kang, Hanspeter Pfister, Tica Lin

TL;DR

The paper addresses the challenge of teaching and coordinating soccer tactics across players by introducing PanoCoach, a mixed-reality telepresence system that fuses a 2D tablet-based tactical board with immersive 3D/VR views for first-person training. A Unity-based prototype with WebXR and multiplayer support demonstrates cross-device collaboration, real-time annotation, and movement feedback, validated through interviews and sessions with professional and collegiate teams. Findings suggest benefits in rehearsal efficiency, memorability, and remote coaching effectiveness, while acknowledging hardware constraints and design challenges in translating between views. Future work targets automated trajectory generation, richer data integration, and longitudinal impact studies to generalize beyond controlled environments and other sports.

Abstract

Soccer, as a dynamic team sport, requires seamless coordination and integration of tactical strategies across all players. Adapting to new tactical systems is a critical but often challenging aspect of soccer at all professional levels. Even the best players can struggle with this process, primarily due to the complexities of conveying and internalizing intricate tactical patterns. Traditional communication methods like whiteboards, on-field instructions, and video analysis often present significant difficulties in perceiving spatial relationships, anticipating team movements, and facilitating live conversation during training sessions. These challenges can lead to inconsistent interpretations of the coach's tactics among players, regardless of their skill level. To bridge the gap between tactical communication and physical execution, we propose a mixed-reality telepresence solution designed to support multi-view tactical explanations during practice. Our concept involves a multi-screen setup combining a tablet for coaches to annotate and demonstrate concepts in both 2D and 3D views, alongside VR to immerse athletes in a first-person perspective, allowing them to experience a sense of presence during coaching. Demo video uploaded at https://youtu.be/O7o4Wzd-7rw

PanoCoach: Enhancing Tactical Coaching and Communication in Soccer with Mixed-Reality Telepresence

TL;DR

The paper addresses the challenge of teaching and coordinating soccer tactics across players by introducing PanoCoach, a mixed-reality telepresence system that fuses a 2D tablet-based tactical board with immersive 3D/VR views for first-person training. A Unity-based prototype with WebXR and multiplayer support demonstrates cross-device collaboration, real-time annotation, and movement feedback, validated through interviews and sessions with professional and collegiate teams. Findings suggest benefits in rehearsal efficiency, memorability, and remote coaching effectiveness, while acknowledging hardware constraints and design challenges in translating between views. Future work targets automated trajectory generation, richer data integration, and longitudinal impact studies to generalize beyond controlled environments and other sports.

Abstract

Soccer, as a dynamic team sport, requires seamless coordination and integration of tactical strategies across all players. Adapting to new tactical systems is a critical but often challenging aspect of soccer at all professional levels. Even the best players can struggle with this process, primarily due to the complexities of conveying and internalizing intricate tactical patterns. Traditional communication methods like whiteboards, on-field instructions, and video analysis often present significant difficulties in perceiving spatial relationships, anticipating team movements, and facilitating live conversation during training sessions. These challenges can lead to inconsistent interpretations of the coach's tactics among players, regardless of their skill level. To bridge the gap between tactical communication and physical execution, we propose a mixed-reality telepresence solution designed to support multi-view tactical explanations during practice. Our concept involves a multi-screen setup combining a tablet for coaches to annotate and demonstrate concepts in both 2D and 3D views, alongside VR to immerse athletes in a first-person perspective, allowing them to experience a sense of presence during coaching. Demo video uploaded at https://youtu.be/O7o4Wzd-7rw
Paper Structure (12 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 12 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. PanoCoach Design
  4. Interviews with Soccer Teams
  5. Prototype Design
  6. User Evaluation
  7. Insights
  8. Limitation and Future Iteration
  9. Discussions & Future Directions
  10. Translating movement across views
  11. Visualizing annotation across platforms
  12. Beyond tactical understanding

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Example PanoCoach use case. Different users are presented with tailored visuals and actions based on their roles.