"Muscle memory is not really a thing"- Statespace Labs product manager talks about the development of Aimlabs (Exclusive)

Aimlabs is one of the best video game aim trainers out there. It helps gamers develop their aim and teaches them where to place their crosshairs in the most extensively thought-out tasks. Gamers can improve their tracking, flicking, and precision while implementing specific games' maps into the application to maximize learning.

Aim trainers are nothing new to the gaming industry. However, Aimlabs is actively developing and improving the fundamental training mechanics while also collaborating with major content creators and establishments.

Recently, Aimlabs teamed up with Red Bull Gaming to commence the Ready Check event, which is a featured playlist in the application that consists of nine custom tasks designed to find the USA's best aimer. The event is set to end on July 29 after a LAN event in Dallas, Texas, where the eight best aimers, alongside eight invited professionals, will compete for the $50,000 prize pool.

I got the opportunity to have a conversation with Jackson Kyle, the product manager of Statespace Labs, about the mechanics behind aiming, how muscle memory is a misnomer, and tips for players to improve their aim using such trainers.

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Jackson Kyle on Red Bull Ready Check event, Aimlabs tasks, muscle memory, and more

Q. I played the Ready Check Tasks yesterday and found them to be quite interesting and fun. Are there any specific reasons behind them being the chosen tasks for the event?

Jackson: I am glad you enjoyed them, first and foremost. That's very important to us. So, we chose these tasks because we wanted to cover the three core aiming movements that FPS players make: flicking, tracking, and switching. These are movements that players specifically make in popular FPS titles such as Valorant, Apex Legends, Overwatch, and basically all of them.

Within three of each category, there are niche sub-styles of movement, for example, Micro-flick, which focuses on making precision flicks on very small targets, similar to making a flick for a headshot on Valorant.

An example from the tracking category would be a task called Veer-track, which involves a target strafing back and forth on the ground with occasional bursts of speed, something which you would find in Overwatch or Apex.

An example of Switching tasks would be something like Float-switch, which has targets floating in both X and Y axes of varying sizes, similar to Call of Duty. These three core aim movements cover everything, which allows us to accurately assess players' skills.

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Q. As different games require more skill in types of aim, such as tracking in Apex Legends and Overwatch and flicking in Valorant and CS: GO, how do you replicate exact mechanics from those games in Aimlabs?

Jackson: That is actually a very important question. The best way to do that is to make sure we are not capturing the specific mechanics of each game but rather, the game-agnostic values of those games.

As you just mentioned, tracking is more important in Apex and Overwatch but not as important in Valorant, so it's not about getting the exact movement values of these games, its more important to be able to cover the range of those. So, that leads to not only better training but also being able to more accurately find the most-skilled aimers.

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Q. Why do you need an aim trainer to practice and improve your aim when you can always just play deathmatches or enter the range in each game to practice and warm up?

Jackson: Right, that is a great question, and you are not alone in thinking that. The best way I can describe it is by giving an analogy of traditional sports such as basketball.

A professional basketball player plays a lot of practice games but also practices their shooting, and just not shooting, specifically three-point shots, free throws, and layups. This way, they are isolating each of the different movements and practicing them specifically in their training regiment, and they are not just doing it occasionally; it's part of their routine.

Aimlabs is a way to assist your journey in becoming the best esports or FPS player you can be by giving you an environment that lets you isolate each of those different movements to practice your specific favorite games. If you want to practice for just Valorant, you can do that in Aimlabs. If you want to practice for Apex, you can do that in Aimlabs as well.

For example, in Valorant, if you die early in the round, you are just sitting there for a minute wasting your time, whereas in Aimlabs, you can consistently play as much as you want and need to train and get better.

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Q. Does muscle memory play into aiming a lot? I have seen a lot of discussion on this, and I am sure you have researched this a lot. Does having the same sensitivity across all FPS games you play help in developing muscle memory?

Jackson: This is a complicated subject, so I will do my best to answer it. In order to fully answer it, you will definitely need to read up on various research articles and scientific journals.

The basic summary that I would provide is that muscle memory is not really a thing. At most, it is a misnomer. Basically, a term that got popularised for a concept that people did not really know in gaming.

In fact, a lot of research shows that our brains are able to adjust to different sensitivity values, outside of even gaming, but mostly in gaming, quite quickly. Some of the best aimers actually train using randomized sensitivity values because it makes them better at aiming.

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Q. I have seen AI being implemented into Aimlabs. How does it work and give players tricks and tips to improve their aim?

Jackson: The AI, what we call 'Discovery' in Aimlabs, is part of the Aimlabs Plus premium subscription plan, which offers additional insights into your training and performance while in Aimlabs.

If you have a Riot account, you can actually link it with your Aimlabs account, and you will have access to some parts of your Valorant data that will give you insights into your strengths and weaknesses.

Our feature called 'Run It Back" allows you to upload certain deaths that you've had in Valorant to Aimlabs, and it will automatically recreate that situation in the game for you to practice in a one-to-one version of the map.

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Q. I know that Aimlabs supports controllers, but how does it take into consideration the aim-assist that various games have and give players the same consistency as they would get in the games?

Jackson: So currently, for the aim-assist values that we do support, which is only a couple, we have worked with seasoned professionals of those games to help us build aim-assist values to something that they feel is representative of their game of choice, so we've done that for both Apex and Call of Duty.

I would say that while we do support controllers, but mouse & keyboard is what we are focusing on for the Red Bull Ready Check event. We also do have a mobile app.

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Q. Do you plan on further collaborating with any games and content creators and getting more skins in Aimlabs?

Jackson: I would say that the team is always looking out for opportunities to collaborate with content creators, professionals, and anyone that we believe our community resonates with.

On the other side, any content creator that believes that their community would resonate with Aimlabs, we are always looking for opportunities.

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Q. I know Aimlabs is a service that helps players improve their mechanics, specifically their aim, but a lot more goes into playing an FPS game and getting better at it. For example, game knowledge and game sense. Which would you say is more important, mechanics or game sense?

Jackson: Aiming is just one component of the skills needed to be one of the best esports players. It is definitely a mix of game knowledge, mechanical skill, and more.

Aimlabs is focused primarily on the mechanical side of things, but we also have other services, such as pro guides, which offer coaching content from pros that teach game knowledge, awareness, and game-specific skills needed to be among the best players.

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Q. Which FPS game do you think is the most difficult, considering all aspects, such as game mechanics, extra abilities, and everything in between?

Jackson: That's a great question, let me think about that. You know, it's likely a game that I have not played before, but I would have to pick one of the games from the Quake series. Those games have a lot of mechanical skill involved, both in movement and aiming, but also a lot of knowledge about maps, weapon spawns, and positioning. Those games have always impressed me.

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Q. Does having the right peripherals help players improve, and how can they choose peripherals that suit them best?

Jackson: I believe that every person has different personal preferences. For example, even in mouse grips, there are claw grips, palm grips, and there are different ways people naturally handle their peripherals.

Specific peripherals are designed for these use cases. I don't think there is a single best peripheral that people should use, but there are definitely variations that players should experiment with and find what they are most comfortable using.

Aimlabs, specifically, as part of this endeavor, did work with ASUS ROG to develop a mouse called the Harpe Ace Aim Lab edition that was designed around FPS use and performance, so that is something we are aware of and are actively trying to find peripherals that suit gamers.

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Q. Tell me about the Red Bull Ready Check event and its collaboration with Aimlabs.

Jackson: The Red Bull Ready Check event, in collaboration with Aimlabs, was a way for us to build an experience inside Aimlabs that would help accurately identify the best aimers in the US through our ranked season, which is a new experience built for the event.

I am really excited that it's out, and I am hoping for players to play and enjoy it. I am looking forward to the live LAN event on July 29.