December 16, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey, with partners ACE (Applied Cognitive Engineering) and the BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation, have announced plans to develop a revolutionary product that will, for the first time ever, provide players a training tool to develop “hockey sense.” To be called Hockey IntelliGym, the software-based product will furnish players with a highly effective training tool to develop perception and decision-making skills. Further, it will enable coaches to fine-tune the training program and follow-up on the progress of their players. “We’re really into unchartered territory with the development of Hockey IntelliGym,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “With the expertise of ACE and the support of the BIRD Foundation, we’ll be able to produce a product that will give our players an opportunity to improve in areas that training has never before been available.” The technology used for developing the Hockey IntelliGym was initially developed to train fighter pilots on the cognitive brain level. Based on the same concept, a training program for basketball players has been developed – the Basketball IntelliGym™. The innovative Basketball IntelliGym software program has been proven to improve real-time decision-making and execution for thousands of basketball players worldwide and players on more than a dozen college basketball teams. Hockey IntelliGym will be composed of two distinct components – a training module for players and an administration component for coaches. The training module will utilize a software-based self-explanatory training environment. It will contain automatic customization algorithms that will adjust the training program to each individual player according to his/her personal strengths, weaknesses and progress rate. A sophisticated scoring mechanism will retain high-training motivation by presenting personal improvement as well as a comparison of the overall score to global performance benchmarks. In order to ensure that the training system is engaging and fun to use, it will be designed as a game-like atmosphere. The training environment for coaches will include a set of tools that will enable coaches – for the first time – to design the cognitive training regimen for players and follow up on the execution thereof. A coach will be able to adjust the intensity of the training program and to emphasize various trained skills, e.g., anticipation pattern recognition (reading the play), response time, task switching, etc. When players perform a training session – regardless of their location – the coach will be able to follow-up on their training. The coach will also be able to track the correlation between the cognitive training results and actual on-ice performance. “We fully expect Hockey IntelliGym to become part of the regular training regimen for players at all age levels and abilities,” said Jim Johannson, assistant executive director for hockey operations at USA Hockey. The players and coaches at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program will provide the appropriate hockey knowledge to combine with ACE’s cognitive engineering expertise in developing the product. It is anticipated that the product will be available in December 2010. NOTE: The product components will be able to be utilized in concert with each other or by a player individually without the coach’s component. ABOUT USA HOCKEY USA Hockey Inc., founded in 1936 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the National Governing Body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States. With a membership of nearly 600,000 players, coaches, officials and volunteers that span all 50 states, USA Hockey seeks to promote the growth of hockey and provide the best possible experience for all participants by encouraging, developing, advancing and administering the sport. For more information, visitusahockey.com. ABOUT ACE
ACE - Applied Cognitive Engineering Ltd. of Netania, Israel, founded in 2003, is the developer of software based "brain-gyms.” Its flagship patent-pending technology – 'Cognitive Simulation' - is proven to increase trainees' performance by up to 60%. The scientific concepts behind this revolutionary training technology are taken from the Air Force for training fighter pilots. ACE’s first product, the Basketball IntelliGym™, is used by thousands of teams and athletes of all levels and ages. For more information, visit intelligym.com ABOUT THE BIRD FOUNDATION The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation works to encourage cooperation between Israeli and American companies in the various areas of technology, and provides free assistance in locating strategic partners from both countries for developing joint products. During its 31 years, the BIRD Foundation has invested in more than 780 projects, which have yielded direct and indirect revenues of about $8 billion. The BIRD Foundation supports projects without receiving any rights in the participating companies or in the project itself. The financial assistance is repaid as royalties from sales. The Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project’s budget, beginning with research and development and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not require that the investment be repaid if the project fails to reach the sales stage. The BIRD Foundation works in full cooperation with the Chief Scientist’s Office at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment in Israel, and with the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). For more information, visitbirdf.com. |