When Conrad Ukropina drove to high school in downtown Los Angeles, he saw homeless people every day. Many are stereotyped as lazy drug addicts and alcoholics who have created their own problems.
Ukropina knows otherwise. As a Boy Scout, he helped the homeless and continued to volunteer while attending Loyola High, where he graduated cum laude and was a standout kicker.
“The thing that struck me is how many people aren’t homeless by choice,” said Ukropina, a fifth-year senior at Stanford and the most accurate kicker in program history. “There is a lot of misconception. In reality, there are a lot of people that life just hits hard. Wrong place, wrong time. Things happen.”
The homeless population in the U.S. now exceeds 500,000 – more than 100,000 in California. Lost jobs, divorce or separation, family disputes, eviction and health problems are cited as significant factors.
Hoping to increase awareness, understanding and compassion, Ukropina is pursuing a master’s degree in communication and the focus of his thesis is to create more empathy for the homeless. He spends most days at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab on campus, where he helped Ph.D student Fernanda Herrera develop a study last summer that utilizes Oculus goggles and a computer to create animated but real-life scenarios depicting the circumstances and daily challenges they face.
By using virtual reality, Ukropina hopes to generate more empathy for the homeless
More than 600 interviews have been conducted with young people 18 and older from around the Bay Area, with a goal of 1,000 by early spring. Each participant is screened to determine their empathy level before viewing one of four tracks with the oculus, then interviewed afterward. Ukropina’s thesis will examine the changes.
“Hopefully with this study, we can use virtual reality to put people in the shoes of homeless and show them what is really happening,” said Ukropina, who earned a degree in science, technology and society last June.
The animated scenarios are realistic, thought-provoking, powerful, and at times, uncomfortable to watch. The Oculus goggles create a third dimension effect and give viewers the feeling of being present.
“I’m often the first person showing people virtual reality and it’s a pretty new thing,” Ukropina said. “It’s really cool to see how intense people’s reactions are.”
A major goal of the project is to show the distinction between reading stories and statistics about the homeless compared to seeing how they became disparate through visualization.
“People don’t expect how immersive it is until they put on the goggles,” said Ukropina. “It’s pretty powerful. When your head moves, the screen moves with it and it feels so real. It’s just the brain tricking your senses.”
Ukropina was drawn to the project by the virtual reality element. After discussion with advisor Jeremy Bailenson, founder and chair of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Ukropina decided to incorporate it with a homeless study.
“My awareness has grown a lot,” Ukropina said. “The homeless are very underrepresented when people donate money. I hope to publish one of the first big virtual reality studies that advances the field.”
Ukropina was introduced to virtual reality by former Stanford kicker Derek Belch. While working on his master’s, Belch served as graduate assistant for Cardinal special teams coach Pete Alamar for two years. They had long discussions about how to incorporate virtual reality with football and Ukropina became the guinea pig.
“I really felt there was an opportunity for kickers to put themselves in the moment and mentally rehearse those movements,” said Alamar. “You can actually see it and imagine it.”
Belch founded STRIVR Labs, Inc. and now works with 25 teams across all sports including the NFL, NBA and 13 colleges. The company has expanded beyond athletics.
“Conrad was the first player to use it and incorporate it into his routine,” he said. “I got to work with him closely and helped him remake his form on my way out, then came back and helped him again in the spring of 2015.”
After careful study, Ukropina changed his field-goal kicking routine from three steps to two. It might not sound like a much, but is akin to a pitcher changing his delivery or a basketball player adjusting his shooting technique.
“You still need to work, but virtual reality helped me through the process,” he said.
Ukropina became the primary kicker in 2015 season and made 18 of 20 field goals and all 67 extra points to lead the team in scoring with 121. He nailed a 45-yarder as time expired to lift the Cardinal to a thrilling 38-36 victory in the regular-season finale against Notre Dame.
Ukropina splits the uprights with 45-yard game-winner against Notre Dame in 2015
He credits visualization work with the Oculus goggles for helping him stay calm and confident under pressure.
“I think I’m the first guy who used it consistently,” said Ukropina. “Kevin (Hogan) used it and so did some of the other quarterbacks. I made an exact schedule so that every Tuesday it would film my field goals and every Friday and Saturday I would watch it.”
Before every pregame meal this season, Ukropina has spent 30 minutes watching previous kicks on the Oculus goggles for positive reinforcement. Prior to taking the field for last month’s final regular season game against Rice, he reviewed more than 40 kicks.
“It’s like I’m getting a full extra practice no other kicker in America is getting,” he said. “I’m able to go through my entire routine and I build my library every week.”
Junior quarterback Keller Chryst, who has won all five starts this season, also uses virtual reality every week.
Entering the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30 against North Carolina in El Paso, Texas, Ukropina has converted 18 of 22 field goal attempts and 33 consecutive PATs to extend his school record to 102 in a row. All four misses have come from 45 yards or beyond, and he hit the upright three times during a two-game stretch.
“That was awful,” he said. “For sure it was a little bit of bad luck.’’
For second consecutive year, Ukropina was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention. Not that he is satisfied.
Ukropina’s goal this season was to be perfect.
“It’s a bummer,” he said. “I thought I was going to make all my kicks. I made all of them in spring ball and fall camp. It was just a fluke.”
After Ukropina clipped the top of the upright at Notre Dame, he received many unsolicited suggestions.
“A lot of people wanted to give me their opinions,” said Ukropina. “I didn’t really listen. I sat down with coach Alamar and was kind of shocked and upset. We watched kicks from last year and could just tell how much quicker I was with my hips. He said, ‘It happened, let’s move forward, you’re better than this.’ ’’
Since then, Ukropina has connected on 11 of 12 tries.
“He’s done a great job of pushing it the last two years,” Alamar said. “He’s 86 percent. Any program would really like having a kicker like that.”
Belch agreed and is even more excited about his project.
“I’m extremely proud of everything he has done the last two years,” said Belch. “To now see him use virtual reality in an academic setting is really, really cool.”
Ukropina will write his thesis this spring and is hoping for a shot in the NFL. He also has a long-term goal.
“I’d love to do something in virtual reality that is more helpful for kids,” he said. “Go into hospitals in the pediatric area and give them trips to Disneyland. Kids who are bedridden and can’t leave. Hopefully I can make a little money in kicking and start that.”
Ukropina has already blazed a trail for athletes in sports using virtual reality. Why not real life?
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Ukropina has his sights set on playing in the NFL and helping kids
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