Developed by EyeCarrot Innovations, the Binovi Touch is a tool that’s designed to improve visual performance. It draws heavy inspiration from the Saccadic Fixator, which has been used in sports and rehabilitation centers for various purposes over the last 20-30 years.
The Binovi Touch is comprised of a large panel with several flashing lights. While the basic principles of the two training tools are similar, the Binovi Touch offers a slightly different approach when it comes to trying to help athletes improve their performance.
In total, the panel holds 49 multi-colored LED lights. They’re arranged in a circular pattern for the purpose of covering as much of your field of vision as possible when you’re standing in front of it. Hidden within the panel, you’ll also find lights that can create shapes and dots. Once a training program is initiated, the lights will flash in a variety of patterns to challenge the mind.
The goal of training with the Binovi Touch is to follow and react based on what the lights do within the program. Each of the primary lights is connected to a physical switch that will record your response times as you complete the training program.
From a design standpoint, the Binovi Touch was designed to try and be as flexible as possible. It’s a modular device that can be paired with others to create programs with increased difficulty. Portability is also something that the company tried to accomplish when creating this product. The goal was for trainers and coaches to be able to use it with athletes in a variety of settings.
The design of the Binovi Touch isn’t very fancy, but there is a fair amount of technology working behind the scenes. An example of this is the Bluetooth connectivity feature.
The Binovi Touch panel is powered by a simple LED matrix display. The training interface and tactile buttons are overlayed on top of the display, leaving little room for training controls and analytic data. EyeCarrot Innovations relies on smartphones and tablets to make up for this.
In order to control and use the Binovi Touch the athlete or trainer needs to use the accompanying app. The app has a collection of visual exercises that were inspired by or directly pulled from the Saccadic Fixator. There are also some newer training modes and customization options to modify your routine as you please.
By using the application you’ll get access to records and critical data in real-time. The goal of this is to allow coaches to monitor the performance of their athletes via their mobile devices as they’re going through the exercises. Saving the data allows the user to compare it to previous sessions and highlight areas that need improvement.
From there, visual exercise routines can be customized to try and deliver a program that fits the needs of each athlete. The Binovi Touch is one of EyeCarrot’s main products, which means there will likely be some more improvements in the future.
The company says they have plans to include third-party integration going forward as well. This would allow the user to connect the Binovi Touch with other training equipment, such as heart rate monitors, controllers, wearables, and more.
What Benefits Is It Supposed To Provide?
As we mentioned earlier, the Binovi Touch focuses on providing visual training. While the device is predominantly advertised for sports applications, the company behind it claims that it can also provide benefits to senior citizens, those who are going through rehabilitation, and more.
The company behind the Binovi Touch is EyeCarrots Innovations and their main focus is providing technological solutions for visual training. So what claims do EyeCarrots Innovations make about the Binovi Touch?
The first benefit that the company says this device can provide is increased reaction times. It should come as no surprise that a faster response to events on the field can lead to greater success. While the differences are minute, having the ability to process what you’re seeing may help to speed up those synaptic transmissions that your brain sends to various parts of your body.
According to EyeCarrots Innovations, the Binovi Touch improves your responsiveness by speeding up saccades. Saccades are the quick movement of your eyes as you focus on one visual stimulant to the next.
The central design of the Binovi Touch is meant to challenge those movements. Throughout a training program, your eyes must find and follow the flashing lights. Then, you have to react by pressing the corresponding light.
With continued training, this simple repetitive action is supposed to lead to faster response times. Because the tactical response is a core part of the system, the manufacturers also claim that training will enhance hand-eye coordination and visual perception. Both are directly connected to your reaction times.
Visual perception refers to how your brain interprets objects in your environment. Essentially, your eyes are picking up a message that has to be sent to your brain to be processed. While it may not seem like perception is that important in sports, you’d be surprised by what a few milliseconds of time can do.
Continual training with the Binovi Touch is said to enhance the way you perceive your surroundings. Responding to the stimulants on the device is supposed to be a form of strength training for your brain. By keeping your visual perception skills sharp, you may be able to translate that efficiency to a sports setting.
Even after your brain has interpreted that visual data, it still needs to tell your body what to do next. This is where your hand-eye coordination comes in. Movements might seem instant to us in the real world.
But, the reality is that there’s always a slight delay in everything you do. Neurotransmitters have to send those signals before your body can jump into action. Like visual perception, constantly challenging that connection between your body and your brain is believed to help you see improvements in your sports performance.
Another key benefit that the manufacturers of Binovi Touch say can come with this device is improved visual memory. In a game setting, visual memory plays a crucial role in how your brain reacts to the events unfolding in front of you. Athletes must make split-second decisions based on what they’re seeing.
This involves mapping out where other players are, the location of the ball, and field position. In just an instant, you’re forced to use those limited visual cues to determine your next course of action.
The Binovi Touch is said to improve visual memory through its use of flashing lights. Due to the fast-paced nature of the training routine, you must identify the location of light quickly and respond to it while you’re searching for the next.
Your brain is processing multiple things at once. Yet, your actions are relying solely on your visual memory of the light’s location to touch it.
EyeCarrot Innovations also says that you can experience other benefits with the use of additional accessories. These include enhancements to your balance and improved visual perception at different distances.
For balance, you’ll need to pair the Binovi Touch with a balance board or half-dome exercise ball. Standing on the balancing tool while performing the exercises is said to help you process changes in your inner ear better. This unique training routine forces your brain to respond to changes in balance while it’s working on taking care of other tasks.
Using a tablet with the Binovi Touch may be effective if you’re looking to enhance your visual performance at different distances. Within the app, you can take advantage of a digital version of the board. It responds in the same way as the tactical buttons.
However, it allows you to perform the same training exercises at a significant distance away from the board. This may be able to help you learn how to respond to visual stimulants regardless of space between you.
Is There A Better Alternative?
Binovi has fairly robust software. In fact, it’s software can compete with a lot of the solutions out there.
But the hardware definitely leaves some room for improvement.
Limitations to the functionality of training and exercises mean that users need to make compromises when using it. Here’s what we mean:
First off, the 4×4 board doesn’t cover peripheral vision. This limits the effectiveness of the exercises and means you’ll have weak spots when it comes to performing in a competition.
The Binovi touch also doesn’t require as much movement or balance as other superior hardware (like Reflexion). You can attach multiple boards together if you want to compensate for this, but that increases the cost and doesn’t address the other issues.
Another weak spot in the physical design is the limited number of lights on the board. This puts a cap on how complex and challenging you can make each drill, leading to an eventual lack of progress or interest from your athletes. The low light count also means the Binovi Touch can’t emulate moving targets effectively, which is a major downside.
Lastly, if you’re looking for something portable this likely isn’t the product for you. It’s quite the hassle to move the Binovi Touch from place to place. These days many trainers, coaches, and athletes want to incorporate some sort of visual performance training into their exercises at multiple locations. This makes portability a must.
The plus side is these lack of features do keep the cost down, making it a suitable option if you’re looking for a bare-bones training product. However, if you want something more robust you’re better off sticking with something like Reflexion.
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