Texas Longhorns to Use VR Goggles to Test for Concussions

The University of Texas Longhorns football team, along with other UT athletic programs, is planning to use new high-tech goggles this year to help team doctors quickly test players for symptoms of a concussion.

The announcement from Boston-based SyncThink comes on the first day of class for UT students -- and just a few days before the Longhorns kick off their football season opener in Austin on Saturday versus Maryland.

SyncThink says UT sports medicine staff will use the EYE-SYNC technology on the field and in locker rooms. It uses a modified set of virtual reality goggles and eye-tracking software to look for concussion symptoms. It can take as little as a minute to assess a player, giving teams a quick way to either begin treatment for an athlete or OK them to go back in the game. Traditional tests can take up to a half hour.

“It is clear they are leading the way in terms of providing top notch care for their student athletes, and we look forward to our EYE-SYNC solution expanding on that by providing them with key insights to measure, identify, and resolve disorientation in order to ensure a safe return to practice and play," Scott Anderson, SyncThink's chief customer officer.

The company has also deployed its devices at Iowa State University and Stanford University.

It's widely known that repeated head trauma can cause a wide variety of mental and physical problems. Studies have shown that an increasing number of NFL players have developed cognitive problems, including severe dementia, as a result of the pummeling nature of the sport.

Earlier this month, Peyton Manning, the future hall of fame quarterback, attended a Longhorns practice and saw Texas testing a new product by Riddell to track the impact of hits to the head.