As is the case with Pine Crest students, senior Talia Sverdlik ’25 made good use of her time over the summer.
Talia kicked off June leading the Pine Crest Virtual Reality (VR) Visualization Team to first place at the Technology Student Association National competition. Later that month, she checked in to the Ringling College of Art + Design’s four-week VR Summer Program after earning a spot in the program’s VR PreCollege Scholarship Competition. She wrapped up in July with a five-week City Furniture Business Merchandising & Product Development Internship as part of her work with Pine Crest’s three-year social entrepreneurship program.
Talia’s passion for VR is palpable.
“My interest comes from the point of view of wanting to find ways to best utilize technology in helping people learn,” said Talia. “From fields such as medicine and the arts to chemistry and athletics, the possibilities for learning in this way are limitless.”
Talia discovered an early adopter of harnessing VR for learning in Pine Crest football head coach and Upper School social science teacher Mr. Tim Hibbs.
“I was auditing a social entrepreneurship class that Talia is a part of,” said Coach Hibbs. “Her group was developing VR programs. Seeing what she was doing matched my doctoral research and influenced my pursuit of implementing it in our football program.”
After speaking more with Coach Hibbs, Talia said, “We agreed to join forces and collaborate on custom VR training programs for the Panthers.”
Coach Hibbs’ doctoral studies are focused on theories of learning. “My research focuses specifically on creating autonomy, relatedness and competence in learning to motivate,” he said. “I came across VR in my research and have a former player who coached at UCLA whose Head Football Coach was known for innovation. They used VR in their program, and since I was interested in bringing it to Pine Crest, he put me in touch with Dr. Dutch Franz, developer of REPSVR, a sports performance training platform. I discussed the product on the phone and then met with him in Orlando. It was clear that VR could assist our athletes, not just football players, so we have implemented it.”
Coach Hibbs connected Talia with REPSVR and procured a set of VR headsets for the team. He and Talia began tapping into experts at REPSVR and TierOne Performance to begin customizing plays and scenarios for the Panthers.
“I talked to Dr. Franz and his assistant, Coach Joe Ashfield, about having students manage the implementation workflow,” said Coach Hibbs. “Talia immediately got on board and has full autonomy with it. She met with Coach Ashfield, who is based in Hungary, and has done an excellent job in the initial stages.”
Talia added, “Coach Ashfield and the team were helpful and excited to share their knowledge. We have established a great working relationship with them.”
From here, Talia will continue working with players such as varsity receiver Jake Weidenfeld ’25 and junior varsity quarterback Tyler Sasso ’28, filming plays in a 360 degree format and building a library of plays for the offense and defense.
“There are still many things to add to the program to get it to full functionality,” said Coach Hibbs. “The knowledge gained from the REPSVR implementation, combined with the VR training offered through Pine Crest this summer, has shown me that VR has a place in developing learners. I am excited to use the knowledge to create VR experiences for my classroom students as well.”
Speaking to what it has been like to use Talia’s program in practice, Jake Weidenfeld ’25
said, “Football is heavily based on the quality and quantity of practice reps, but it is difficult to get 22 players on the field to practice, especially in the off-season. Because of this, VR can allow players to take quality reps any time of the year, without needing all 22 players. Players will be able to show up to the first day of practice having already practiced these plays, so the team will be able to implement more advanced plays sooner. Overall, the usage of VR will allow football players to have more confidence and better performance on the field.”
Echoing Jake’s sentiment, Tyler Sasso ’28 said, “The addition of VR to our program allows us to put ourselves in real-game situations without it taking a huge toll on our bodies and gives us more opportunities to learn from our mistakes.”
Both student-athletes are excited to see how the program continues to develop.
“I am excited to see our specific plays for a specific gameplan being run against different defenses,” said Jake. “Overall, this will increase our confidence and ability.”
Congratulations, Talia and Coach, and GO PANTHERS!