PIKEVILLE – As the
sports vision optometrist for the University of Pikeville’s new Esports team,
Eilene Eugenio Kinzer, O.D., has been brushing up on her video game skills.
Kinzer knows that the key to mastering League of Legends, a multi-player online
battle arena for collegiate gamers, is strategy, quick response time and vision
control.
Kinzer has designed a
vision-training program that will help the Esports team achieve optimal
performance when they begin competing against other universities in the
Collegiate Star League this fall.
A faculty member at the
University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Optometry, Kinzer was appointed by
Donald Egan, O.D., associate dean of academic affairs for the Kentucky College
of Optometry, under the direction of Roya Attar, O.D., to assist Esports Head
Coach Eric VanHoose and program founder Bruce Parsons.
The University of
Pikeville, or UPIKE, is the second school in the country to offer Esports
scholarships, following Robert Morris University in Chicago, Ill. UPIKE’s team
will be competing against schools such as Columbia, Johns Hopkins and Harvard.
More than 400 hundred collegiate teams are expected to compete during the
2015-2016 school year. Many professional and collegiate sports teams, including
football, baseball and volleyball, incorporate visual training to improve an
athlete’s performance. Visual perception is the means in which a visual
stimulus is observed by the eye’s visual sensors and communicated to the brain.
Visual perception training can help enhance a person’s hand-eye coordination,
peripheral awareness and eye tracking abilities, skills that benefit Esports
athletes. UPIKE’s vision training program will also include eye exams, health
checks and the use of specialized software and eye tracking technology during
practice sessions.
The Kentucky College of
Optometry is also pursuing research ventures in the Esports field. Topics
include determining the best monitor settings to minimize eye fatigue for
athletes and developing a vision training protocol specifically designed to
optimize performance.
“The vision-training
program for Esports student-athletes will focus on improving game play and
create research opportunities from a broader perspective, including home and
business use,” said Kinzer. “We hope to apply this research in the areas of
eyestrain and potential visual problems associated with computer monitors and
hand-held devices.” The Esport team’s relationship with the Kentucky College of
Optometry is a good example of the possibilities within a structured varsity
program, according Parsons.
“The research component
and developing science study provides tactile and immediate feedback to help
student-athletes,” said Parsons. “For Esport athletes interested in the
professional gaming industry, this also provides untapped avenues beyond
competitive play.”
The Kentucky College of
Optometry is the fourth college under the University of Pikeville banner and
reflects the institution’s mission of service and strategic initiatives. In the
process of applying to the American Council for Optometric Education for
pre-accreditation status, the University of Pikeville would be the 22nd school
in the country to have a college of optometry. Construction has begun on a new
educational facility to house the Kentucky College of Optometry. Sixty students
will be admitted per class for a total of 240. The university expects to
provide for the underserved in Central Appalachia and other rural areas of the
country.
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