The University of Limerick (UL) has announced Ireland’s first-ever esports research lab at Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre.

Researchers at the new lab at UL will conduct studies designed to boost performance of international amateur and professional esports players.

Dr Mark Campbell, director of the Lero esports research lab, said the move came about as the industry has continued to grow massively.

“This is a massive growth sector. Top professional players can earn millions of dollars per annum. However, unlike other professional sports, there has been very little application of sports science to the participants to date.”

“Our research lab will combine health science and computing to identify what makes a great player. For example, we will work on psychometric software incorporating eye tracking and brain imaging to measure the neural, cognitive and physical attributes of the most effective players.”

He also addressed the issue of gender balance in the industry, highlighting research that shows that this is a sport in which female players can compete on equal terms with their male counterparts.

“While playing video games does have a male image there is no physical benefit for either sex unlike many traditional sports such as rugby.

“In esports, although there are far fewer female players, competitions are not organised by gender, so men and women compete against each other on equal terms.”

The announcement was made just as the world has begun to see how lucrative esports can be.

At last month’s Fortnite World Cup in New York, U.S. teenager Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf, 16, won $3 million.

Dublin teenager Joshua Juliano, 17, took home $50,000 from the same event.

Last year prize money from esports events exceeded $160 million (with a single event reaching $25 million alone).

“Esports represent a rapidly growing billion-dollar global industry which is using innovation to push the boundaries of technology.”

“This new Lero SFI Research Centre lab will help bring about greater levels of international visibility to the games industry, solidifying expertise across Irish third level institutions and industry.”

Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland

Prof. Conor Ryan, Lero researcher at UL added that the program will worth with both amateur and professional players, focusing on increasing elements like motor skills, peripheral vision and aural range.

“The findings will be of benefit to players, managers and sponsors of professional esports teams and could contribute to the design of future computer peripherals,” he said.

© 2019 VG Addict. Click sign-up to subscribe – Article by Aidan O’Sullivan.