Elliott Wheat 650649 Department of Computer Science 6000COMP Project Final Report Submitted by Elliott Wheat 650649 Computer Games Technology Title Can the use of video games technologies help to improve the post-match analysis of football matches? Supervised by Dr Stephen Tang Submitted on 21st April 2017 Final Word Count 34631 1 Elliott Wheat 650649 Acknowledgement Firstly, I would like Dr Stephen Tang and Dr Christopher Carter. They have both provided unparalleled support during my time at Liverpool John Moores University. They are both experts in their field and a real credit to their discipline and the university. I would like to thank my family, especially my mother, for providing continuous support in times of need and allowing me to pursue my passion. I would also like to thank the experts who validated my application and findings from my research: Dr Joe Causer and Dr Allistair McRobert of the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moors University. Thank you. Abstract Recent advantages in technologies have allowed for the ability to track positional and event data from a sporting match to be used by sporting professionals as a learning tool. The technology and software used to view that data has not advanced however, making the analysis of sporting matches seem primitive in comparison with teaching tools being used in other professions/fields. This project will address the current issues with the playback of football match analysis, the lack of perspective, by reconstructing a match between Argentina and Brazil from 2010 inside of a game engine using data provided by Stats. The ability to view the game from any player’s perspective, with the use of a VR HMD, will add information that is currently unavailable with current football match analysis software. 2 Elliott Wheat 650649 Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................. 2 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9 Overview ................................................................................................................................. 9 Motivation and Aims ............................................................................................................. 10 Project Objectives ................................................................................................................. 10 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 10 Project Plan ........................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2: Literature Review .......................................................................................................... 12 Football Match Analysis ........................................................................................................ 12 2.1.1 Challenges with Football Match Analysis ...................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Big Data and Analytics in Football ................................................................................. 13 2.1.3 Positive Impact of Analytics in Football ........................................................................ 13 2.1.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 14 VR .......................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Window on a World ...................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) ............................................................... 15 2.2.3 Head Mounted Display (HMD) ...................................................................................... 15 2.2.4 VR Applications ............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.5 VR Hardware ................................................................................................................. 19 2.2.6 Health and Safety with VR ............................................................................................ 26 2.2.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 26 Serious Games ....................................................................................................................... 27 2.3.1 Definition of Serious Games ......................................................................................... 27 2.3.2 Characteristics of Games .............................................................................................. 28 2.3.3 Serious Games Characteristics and Their Implementation ........................................... 29 2.3.4 Examples of Serious Games .......................................................................................... 30 2.3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 31 3 Elliott Wheat 650649 Digital Content Creation ....................................................................................................... 32 2.4.1 Workflow ....................................................................................................................... 32 2.4.2 Asset Types ................................................................................................................... 34 2.4.3 External Sources ............................................................................................................ 37 2.4.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 38 Game Engines........................................................................................................................ 38 2.5.1 Engine Building Blocks .................................................................................................. 39 2.5.2 Engine Examples ........................................................................................................... 40 2.5.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 3: Related Projects ............................................................................................................ 42 Lift by Virtualway .................................................................................................................. 42 Fear of Flying ......................................................................................................................... 42 NextVR .................................................................................................................................. 43 Virtual Live ............................................................................................................................ 43 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 44 Chapter 4: Requirement Specification ............................................................................................ 44 Football Match Analysis ........................................................................................................ 44 Activity Diagram of Traditional Video Analysis of a Football Game. .................................... 45 Activity Diagram of the Proposed Application. ..................................................................... 46 Functional Requirements ...................................................................................................... 46 Non-Functional Requirements .............................................................................................. 47 Chapter 5: Design and Implementation .......................................................................................... 47 Initial Prototype and Tool Development............................................................................... 47 5.1.1 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 47 5.1.2 Data Parser Tool ............................................................................................................ 48 5.1.3 Class Planning ................................................................................................................ 52 Moving to a Game Engine ....................................................................................................