In blind soccer, players rely solely on auditory cues for navigation and gameplay execution. This study investigates the sound source localization abilities of blind soccer athletes under conditions of background noise. Utilizing the Visual Space Acoustic System developed in our laboratory, we assessed participants’ capacity to track moving sound sources while simultaneously recording head movement data. The results indicate that visually impaired participants with blind soccer experience exhibited significantly enhanced sound source tracking capabilities compared to sighted participants. Moreover, they demonstrated greater adaptability to noisy environments.Post-experimental interviews revealed that visually impaired participants employed a distinct adaptation strategy in noisy conditions, initially localizing both the target sound and background noise before selectively focusing on the target source.Future research will expand the participant pool to include visually impaired individuals without blind soccer experience, enabling an assessment of auditory localization independent of sport-specific training. These findings contribute to the development of optimized training programs for blind soccer athletes and may inform rehabilitation strategies for individuals with visual impairments.

In the domain of blind soccer, proficient sound localization, utilizing auditory cues, is essential for player performance. This study explores the capacity of individuals to accurately localize static and dynamic auditory cues in an environment that allows free neck movement and investigates the strategies of head movement that contribute to optimal sound localization. Through enhancements to our virtual reality system, we conducted comprehensive verification tests to assess these abilities. Our analysis reveals that sighted players with experience in blind soccer tend to augment their sound localization capability for static sources through more pronounced and frequent head movements. Conversely, visually impaired players exhibit superior localization accuracy for both types of sound sources with minimal, yet efficient, head movements. A critical observation from this study is the differential performance in localizing dynamic sound sources; sighted players, despite active head movements, were unable to match the localization precision of their visually impaired peers. This disparity underscores the necessity for sighted players to refine their head movement techniques for improved sound localization. Importantly, this research also introduces a comparative analysis of simultaneous static and dynamic sound source localization, highlighting the complexities and adaptive strategies required for effective auditory perception in blind soccer.

The term “esports” is used to refer to game-based competitions considered as sports events. Esports currently involves a qualitative instruction that relies on individual experience and intuition, such as instruction from professional gamers. By contrast, sports observe a shift from qualitative to high-quality instruction using quantitative evaluation indices. Therefore, in esports, evaluation indices must be quantified to improve the training quality. This study focuses on crossing situations in soccer games. Crossing is a play in which a player passes from the side to the goal. It is important in soccer because of its high possibility of leading to a goal. Therefore, the quality of cross training in soccer must be improved to increase the scoring probability by crossing. As a feasibility study, this work aims at a quantitative evaluation of crossing in soccer games. The important factors for a successful cross are the positional relationship and the speed of each player at the time of the cross. A crossing scene is modeled to obtain a cross score based on these factors. First, when the velocity and trajectory of the cross ball are determined, the area is defined in which the offensive and defensive players can touch the ball. This area is calculated, and the value of how close to the center the ball trajectory passes in relation to the area is determined for each player. Using these values, the Cross Score (CS) was obtained by constructing a cross evaluation formula. To confirm the validity of the obtained evaluation values, a system that can obtain the evaluation values using image processing was developed. Then, 264 videos of crossing scenes in a soccer game were obtained, and CS was calculated for each of them. The correlation coefficient between the cross score and the percentage of successful crosses is 0.923, showing a strong correlation and confirming CS validity. As an example of application of the CS, it is possible to judge whether a cross is good or bad by displaying the CS on a heatmap using quantitative values. This enables visual and quantitative feedback using CS, suggesting the possibility of improving the quality of training.

Hand-eye coordination (HEC) is an important ability in a variety of sports, as it involves the ability to quickly and accurately control motion using visual information. This ability is extensively involved in badminton smash reception. In existing studies on HEC evaluation, this ability was evaluated according to information collected after the motion had been performed. Accordingly, it is impossible to determine the specific phase of perception or motion that causes problems in HEC. The purpose of this study was to develop a system for identifying the abilities of perception involved in HEC as it relates to badminton smash it is considered as badminton's most effective shot. Two systems were developed to identify HEC perceptual abilities, one focused on perception in a static state (i) and the other focused on perception-to-motion comprehensiveness (ii). Next, two types of tests were conducted, one involving (i) and the other using (ii). The tests were randomly administered for a total of 18 participants in three groups: six people who had previously played badminton, six people who had played ball sports other than badminton, and six people who were inexperienced at ball sports. Participants were healthy adults. The tests aimed to identify factors of perceptual ability by comparing them across systems. The results showed no significant difference between experienced badminton players and others according to the conducted tests, where test (i) was used for measuring the distance between the shuttlecock and gaze. A significant difference between the group of experienced badminton players and the other two groups was, however, observed in the test using (ii). The results suggested the ability to follow the shuttlecock with the eyes to be a perceptual ability related to HEC in badminton smash receptions. The results of this study can help evaluate perceptual ability during smash receptions.