Technology brings live events to more people with disability

Whether it’s motorised mobility aids, Apple’s accessibility features, eye-gaze technology or even more simple things like kettle tippers, grab-sticks or flashing doorbells, there’s no doubt that technology can make life easier, and increase your independence, if you have a disability.

But what about other aspects of life – especially the really fun parts?

How can technology help you to get the most out of going to a gig or a music festival or watching live sport?

There’s lots to explore.

Scottish DJ John McDevitt, who is deaf, said he experienced a festival like never before while wearing a haptic suit at Mighty Hoopla in London this year. Haptics are technology that gives a tactile response – like the way you can feel your phone vibrate when it rings.

Looking a bit like a harness, the suit was fitted with 24 touch pads attached to the torso, wrists and ankles which would vibrate to create a sensory experience. The suit was connected to the Vodafone 5G network so it would connect with the sounds coming from the stage and the crowd reaction.

McDevitt, who DJs under the name ‘Def Beatz’ said it was an experience like no other.

“The vibration is a big thing for a deaf person, so going to a festival…I was apprehensive about how I was going to hear it,” he said. “It’s also a confidence thing. You’d always find me near the speaker so I could feel the vibrations.”

“The guy was doing the drum sound check and I could only feel the drums in a small part of the vest, then the full band kicked in. It was quite surreal – it wasn’t until the first song had finished, I realised the pads were for the crowd reaction.

“It was going off on my wrist and I thought what’s going on here?’. I felt part of it! I felt part of the crowd, it was mind blowing.”

The suit would vibrate differently so McDevitt could experience the feeling of the keys on the keyboard being played, and even people in the crowd raising their hands in the air.

McDevitt’s suite was created by Vodafone, Music Not Impossible, and UNIT9, with the goal of creating a multisensory experience for people who are hearing impaired.

“The motivation is for us to create a full body experience for members of the audience who have been limited in how they can experience live music,” said Dani Valkova, head of audio at UNIT9. “It mirrors and showcases the crowd energy and crowd interactions.”

“We wanted to get a message across of inclusivity and everybody coming together for the enjoyment of music.”

When it comes to live sport, many people who are low vision or vision impaired rely on radio broadcasts while at the game, or even on friends and family to interpret the action (like this interpretation for a Colombian soccer fan who is deaf-blind).

However, technology is opening up sports with the use of Action Audio by AKQA, which combines live commentary with specialised audio to help sports fans who are blind or partially sighted to follow the action.

It was trialled at the Australian Open this year before being offered at Wimbledon.

Filling in the gaps in sensory experience for sight impaired sports fans is what Tim Devine, Executive Innovation Director at AKQA, told Euro News was ‘the datafication of sport’.

“At the moment, there’s an information gap,” said Devine, adding that the sound spatialisation that AKQA uses is similar to that being developed for use in the Metaverse.

“Our role is to work with people who are blind and have low vision to determine what info they’re missing and how we can work on the data they’re missing and spatialised audio to give people a sense of what’s happening in a game.”

With any luck, this technology will soon be coming to a festival or sports sideline near you!