In modern sports, where the margins for improvement are constantly narrowing, the difference is often judged in milliseconds and in a right – or wrong – decision. MentisVR, a Cypriot technology company with a strong international presence, is investing in exactly this crucial point: the mental training of athletes through Virtual Reality.
InBusinessNews spoke with the company's Co-founder and CEO, footballer Urko Pardo, about the technology, the science behind it, international partnerships and the vision for the future of sports.
What is MentisVR and what need does it meet?
MentisVR is a Cypriot technology company that develops mental training applications for athletes. Our goal is to help athletes make faster and better decisions, leveraging our scientific expertise in Psychology and Neuroscience.
We are filling a significant gap, as to date the emphasis in sports has been mainly on physical preparation and less on the systematic training of mental skills, such as attention, perception, memory and decision-making under pressure.
What is MentisVR's key competitive advantage?
Our core strength is the combination of science and technology. We don't just offer digital tools, but solutions based on research data from Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience.
Using Virtual Reality allows us to simulate real-world conditions, which significantly increases the transfer of training to real-world performance. This is critical for us: for the technology to have a meaningful impact on the field.
How is Virtual Reality used in practice?
Through Virtual Reality, athletes train in realistic scenarios that require a high level of attention, perception and memory, under time pressure. Essentially, we train the brain to function exactly as in a real match.
This allows for the practice of speed and quality of decision-making in conditions that closely resemble reality, something that is difficult to achieve with traditional methods.
What are the benefits for athletes and organisations?
The benefits concern both individual performance and overall competitive readiness. Athletes show improvements in concentration, reaction speed and decision-making consistency, especially under pressure.
For clubs and academies, this translates into reduced errors under pressure, faster adaptation of athletes to competitive scenarios and better utilisation of the training process, with direct benefits both at the competitive level and in human resource management. In conclusion, this is a more comprehensive and measurable training process as the data we collect can be used both to identify and develop talents and to better understand the cognitive demands of each athlete.
How does MentisVR fit in with injury rehabilitation?
Our applications can also be used in the context of injury rehabilitation. They allow injured athletes to train critical mental skills even during periods of reduced or limited physical activity, keeping the athlete's cognitive functions active until their full return.
This helps maintain competitive readiness and facilitates the transition to full return to competitive action, which we consider extremely important.
Speaking of injured athletes, we recently saw reports in the international press that you worked with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois during his recovery. What can you tell us about this collaboration?
We cannot reveal many details due to confidentiality agreements. However, we can confirm that the footballer utilised MentisVR technology during his recovery from anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
After his successful return, his team itself revealed our collaboration, which led to significant international exposure. For us, however, the most significant element is that the collaboration was renewed after his return to active duty.
Who is MentisVR aimed at and what is your strategy?
We cater to professional clubs, sports academies and athletes, both in Cyprus and abroad. MentisVR has a presence in Cyprus, Greece, Spain, the United States, and many other countries as our goal is clearly the international market.
Strategically, we focus on creating partnerships and being outgoing, so that the know-how developed in Cyprus has a global impact.
Are MentisVR's applications only about football?
Today, our solutions are mainly used in football, in collaboration with clubs, academies and professional footballers. But our technology doesn’t stop there: we have already worked with athletes in basketball, volleyball, handball and martial arts, and we will soon introduce new tools more targeted at sports beyond football.
Can you tell us which football teams you collaborate with?
We cannot reveal the names of all our partners, as we are bound by confidentiality agreements. However, we can mention that in Cyprus we have been working with Aris Limassol for five years. Our cooperation began when the football team was still in the Second Division and we are particularly happy that it not only continues, but is constantly evolving and strengthening.
Recently, we have also begun a collaboration with AEK Larnaca, a club that has over time shown a particular willingness to contribute and support our research efforts.
In Greece, we collaborate with AEK Athens, which has integrated the applications into its elite academy. We also collaborate with other major teams competing in European and international championships, whose names we cannot disclose. At the same time, we have partnerships with many football academies—mainly in the United States—as well as with private professional football players competing in various European and international championships.
Which universities and organisations do you collaborate with for research purposes?
In Cyprus, we maintain stable and long-standing collaborations with the Department of Psychology of the University of Cyprus, with the CYENS Center of Excellence, as well as with the Sports Lab of UCLan Cyprus. These collaborations constitute a key pillar of our research activity.
Internationally, we collaborate with universities that have strong sports science and technology programs, such as Masaryk University and Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic, as well as Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.
At the same time, we collaborate with various other organisations and sports federations, including the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, expanding our research to special populations and demanding competitive environments.
How do you view Cyprus' role in such innovative initiatives?
Cyprus has the human capital and flexibility to support innovative technology companies. Through MentisVR, we show that cutting-edge know-how combining science, sports and digital innovation, with international growth prospects, can be developed in Cyprus.
For us, Cyprus is not just our headquarters, but the starting point for technology that can compete internationally.
What is MentisVR's vision for the future of sports?
Our vision is to bring the science of cognitive psychology and neuroscience to the forefront of athletic training. We want athletes to improve not only their physical condition, but also their mental functions – perception, attention, memory and decision-making – in ways that are based on scientific evidence.
Technology, such as Virtual Reality, allows us to transfer this scientific knowledge into practical training tools that can be applied to the daily athletic process. Our goal is to support talent identification, performance improvement and the rehabilitation of injured athletes, so that knowledge is transformed into real, measurable results on the field of play – not only in Cyprus, but worldwide.
We believe that in the near future, mental training will be an integral part of daily athletic preparation, just like physical fitness or tactics.
So, what can we expect from you in the future?
In the near future, we will present new applications that combine the knowledge of psychology and neuroscience with Sports Science, offering more holistic training methods. These tools will be addressed to both athletic trainers and physiotherapists, allowing the training and rehabilitation of athletes in a scientifically proven and practically applicable way. Our goal is to enhance performance, accelerate recovery and contribute to the overall readiness of the athlete, connecting research with daily practice.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
