Baseball coach competes in virtual ping pong

The Oculus Virtual Reality was first introduced to the public on March 28, 2016. There are many different games you can play, including a baseball simulation, mini golf, and a fish finder. 

A new version of Eleven Table Tennis was introduced on the Oculus Quest 2 on May 26. It’s a real life competitive table tennis simulator with the ability to acquire a national ranking and strive against better competition. Pitching coach and geometry teacher Andy Loyd took a Black Friday trip to the next level.

“I started playing Oculus ping pong around Thanksgiving of last year,” Loyd said. ”I enjoyed the book ‘Ready Player One’ and was curious what the Oculus was like.”

Players use controllers to set a boundary around the area they are in with no objects near them. The player can’t see anything outside of the game once it has started. The opposing player is across the playing surface, and from then on it’s just playing real life ping pong. 

“Watching him play is very entertaining because he is very competitive,” his wife Cassie Loyd said. ”I also enjoy making fun of him.”

Players can choose to play single player, multiplayer, or against the computer. If you are playing multiplayer, you have the ability to get ranked once you win the required amount of games. 

Coach Loyd plays the Oculus whenever he can, and wins often. He is ranked top 100 in the nation by Eleven Table Tennis.

“If you win you move up. If you lose, you move down. It is just like any other competitive game.” Loyd said.”It was very interesting how realistic the game was compared to real life.”

Loyd is ranked in the top 50 in the United States. 

“One day I was scrolling through games and came upon Oculus ping pong,” Coach Loyd said. “Now, it is all I play.”