Crystal Palace football club has become the first in the world to offer permanent technology for fans who are visually impaired, to improve their match experience.
Launched earlier in the football season, the Give Vision headset relies on a private 5G network at Selhurst Park and offers the user live vision of the game, which wouldn’t otherwise be possible to a visually challenged eye.
Neale Ormston has been a Crystal Palace fan for most of his life, but supporting and spectating has been more difficult the last three years since he’s become visually impaired.
“It got to the point where I was just going to stop, not do my season ticket anymore, and stay at home,” he told Sky News.
The headset has transformed his experience of football.
“It’s given the enjoyment factor a complete buzz,” he said.
“Being able to see the far side of the pitch. Fans cheering. It’s fantastic. It’s enabling people to come back and be part of something, instead of being stuck at home, and just listening. Partake. Enjoy. Sing. It’s what it’s about. It’s the love of the game.”
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The headset has two functions. The first acts as a giant magnifying glass, zooming in on certain elements of the pitch or around the stadium.
The second takes footage live from the host broadcast feed which allows the fan to watch the game in real-time without delay – similar to someone watching on television at home, but at the stadium with the ‘matchday’ experience.
According to the NHS, two million people in the UK are living with sight loss, amounting to one in 34. Of those, around 340,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted.
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This headset requires some existing vision in order to operate. Joanna Liddington from Give Vision said it works by stimulating some of the photoreceptor cells in the eye’s retina.
“You can think about it a little bit like when people use hearing aids – it allows them to regain some of that hearing, and it’s the same with the headset with sight,” she said.
The hope at Crystal Palace is this technology is rolled out at other clubs across the Premier League and beyond.
“It’s a movement for accessibility,” chief operating officer Sharon Lacey told Sky News.
“We’ve been reached out [to] by a couple of clubs.
“I think generally across the Premier League, clubs are really keen on making sure that sport is more accessible.
“It’s really important that we all pull together.”
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The technology relies on private 5G connectivity which has been installed at the stadium – allowing users to sit in their season ticket place and stream live footage into their eyes.
“If we were using WiFi for this, it would be very difficult,” said Sam Jackman from Shared Access, which installed the 5G platform.
“By deploying the stadium-wide network, not just having it in home areas or one stand, we’re able to make sure that if you’re a Crystal Palace fan, you get to benefit from it.
“If you’re an away fan and you want to go and be part of your tribe, you can enjoy the game.”
