Just like technology is constantly changing of our everyday lives, it also is shaping the future of the game we love.

From chips in helmets measuring the severity of impact to virtual reality headgear simulating practice fields, we are starting to see college football teams take advantage of technological advances.

In a recent article by USA Today’s George Schroeder, former Stanford kicker Derek Belch shares the details of the football-specific virtual reality technology he has developed as founder and CEO of STriVR.

In an excerpt from Schroeder’s article— which is a very good read if you have the time— we are given a rundown of exactly what Arkansas QB Brandon Allen saw when he strapped on the equipment.

When Allen slipped on the gear — an Oculus Rift headset, followed by a nice set of headphones, he was suddenly standing not in the conference room adjacent to Bielema’s office, but in the quarterback’s position on the practice field. Looking straight ahead, and then scanning left and right, he recognized the defensive alignment and saw how the offense was arrayed. Then Allen turned around. Behind him, a running back awaited the snap.

Schroeder cites Arkansas and Vanderbilt as the only SEC schools using STriVR technology at this time, though it is believed that many others in the conference are utilizing other start-up companies with similar products to simulate game and practice scenarios.

This isn’t just some fad. Coaches know that these new technologies are here to stay. There is little in the way of limits for the use of this technology.

They are already proving to be important recruiting tools. Bielema told USA Today that he has footage of each of his positional meetings to give the kids he is recruiting an accurate depiction of what it would be like to be a player in his program.

“If we’ve got an offensive lineman (recruit) visiting in the middle of June, he can go into a meeting room (virtually) and feel like he’s sitting in that room,” Bielema told USA Today. “Just some crazy recruiting tools.”

So what does all of this advancement of technology mean for college football in the near future?

As the companies like STriVR continue to advance the capabilities of the technology, one would think that the use of the equipment will become more commonplace in day-to-day practice scenarios.

Did your quarterback throw an interception in practice? The coach could assign him 50 reps of the same play in virtual reality as homework punishment.

It also seems like it could become a helpful tool for players that are nursing in-season injuries.

Rather than risk re-injuring himself by getting back on the practice field, coaches could be able to have him put on a headset and replicate the mental side of the practice that the team went through that day.

The ease with which a coach could add an extra workload on his players with this technology could also be cause for new rules on the amount of time players can spend using them.

But let’s forget college football for a moment, because I know what most of you are thinking at this point: how cool would it be if this technology reaches a level of complexity at which regular guys like me and you can play in a virtual reality-based game of football?

We can only hope that day comes sooner than later.