Brian Watters makes the journey to Miami several times each year, traveling over an hour from his home to the local stadium.
In Miami, he pays tribute to the cherished American game of baseball. His earliest memories revolve around attending games at Wrigley Field in Chicago as a child, and now at nearly 40 years old, he finds joy in taking his children to the loanDepot park.
“Catching a home run on the fly has always been a dream of mine,” Watters shared with me during a phone conversation this week.
Identifying himself as a “ball hawk,” a term that describes a dedicated subset of baseball fans passionate about snagging balls hit into the stands, Watters claims to have amassed around a thousand baseballs throughout his life, including the “cursebreaker” ball he is getting signed by the 2016 Chicago Cubs, the world champions.
The majority of his collection consists of balls obtained during batting practice, as well as “mud-rubbed” balls that have not been played with but were placed in an umpire’s bag. Additionally, he has a few autographed balls and two home runs that he successfully retrieved from the ground, which he considers family treasures.
“I arrive early for every game to get in on batting practice,” Watters noted. “My ultimate aim is to catch home run balls.”
He often carries a couple of balls in his pockets for autographs. After witnessing others in a fan group focused on autographs using Meta glasses, he thought they could enhance his own collecting hobby.
About six weeks ago, he purchased the glasses and began practicing during spring training, although he noted that the voice commands were still too slow for immediate recording.
“Home runs come at a rapid pace, so I need to be as quick as possible,” Watters expressed.
He practiced the art of catching while simultaneously pressing the recording button on the glasses. Coordinating all of this while tracking the trajectory of a fast-moving ball and positioning himself amid a crowd was indeed challenging.
On March 31st, the New York Mets faced off against the Marlins at loanDepot park and Watters achieved a lifelong goal with a powerful crack of the bat. Remarkably, he caught it “on my Metas.”
Scoring a Home Run Catch
“Oh man, I thought this would take all season,” he recalled, yet “it took me only four games.”
“I had ample time to get into position and catch it,” he remarked. Baseball has been “everything to me, my entire life. Since childhood, my dad coached tee-ball. When baseball ends for the year, I hibernate and await the arrival of spring.”
Watters is now sharing his experiences on YouTube and TikTok under the name Catchingballz. He finds himself more engaged with social media than ever before, largely due to “his Metas.”
“I’ve never approached social media as an influencer; it was strictly for family and friends, not to this extent,” he admitted. “I wasn’t sure if I captured the moment until four innings later.”
The footage showcases the moment of intense focus and execution. “Pure joy” is how he described his feelings when he confirmed that the achievement was recorded for posterity.
“I first shared it with my wife at home, then several friends reached out to me,” he detailed.
The ball-hawk community noticed him on live television celebrating his success, he said. On platforms like Reddit, others also shared footage from the broadcast of his catch. Using a combination of clip footage from the television broadcast and his own recording, I edited together a compilation. I’ve retained most of the MLB broadcast’s horizontal aspect ratio, but cropped the edges slightly for a clearer view of him in the stands. Switching to Watters’ perspective, the full frame of the vertical recording from his glasses coincides with the catch.
From Oculus to Meta
Watters owns an original PlayStation VR headset and previously had an interest in “the Oculus,” but has shifted focus given his commitments to family.
“I had always been keen on the Oculus, but my interests changed,” he said. “I’ve moved away from video gaming and towards baseball. I have to prioritize my hobbies.”
He has expressed interest in augmented reality (AR) that could provide him with statistics about players occasionally, and he’s already tested the AI on his glasses for quick information retrieval without needing a display.
Exploring Transparent Optics & Focus Mode in AR Glasses
In a recent article, architect and technology integrator Alex Coulombe shared insights about his experience with Meta’s Orion AR glasses prototype, which costs upwards of $10,000. Watters’ accomplishments and aspirations for AR glasses reflect intriguing potential applications in hardware like this.
Theoretically, when he arrives at a baseball game anywhere globally, he could direct his glasses by stating, “Hey Meta, I’m watching a baseball game here and aiming to catch a home run ball; please refrain from distracting me when a player is about to swing.”
This “focus” mode for AR glasses would provide a stark contrast to the “focus” mode typically encountered in VR software, which emphasizes immersion in virtual reality, while the former remains anchored in real-world interactions.
Mixed reality typically exists at the intersection of AR goggles and VR headsets. As we’ve reported previously, Meta envisions a future that incorporates both VR and AR technologies.
Imagine Watters’ futuristic “Metas” obscuring all unnecessary visuals at the most opportune moment, enabling him to concentrate on the pitch just like every player in the field. Meanwhile, one of his children, equipped with a VR headset, is immersed in playing Fortnite within a floating window while glancing up at the game sporadically. The concept of mixed reality highlights the unique commands each user might have for their respective devices. The child could point to the field and say:
‘Hey Meta, I want to play Fortnite with my friends while still keeping an eye on the baseball game and assisting my dad in catching a ball. Can you support me with that?’
As tension builds during an intense Fortnite match in the second inning, a shimmering fairy flutters across the child’s screen, zooming towards a cluster of illuminated spots in the adjacent section of the baseball stadium. Above three glowing markers, the child’s device might reveal: “This batter has hit 3 home runs in this location over the last 5 seasons.”
In response, the child could enthusiastically exclaim, “Hey dad, he’s hit a bunch of homers over there.”
“I’m all for that,” Watters replies as I paint this imaginative scenario for him.
Will Meta’s forthcoming glasses with a monocular display enable such a focus mode?