How the nBA’s Sacramento Kings Make home games more accessible to every fan
Back in November, I posted a story to my dearly departed Forbes column in which I posited Apple Vision Pro has the potential to be even more accessible by improving the accessibility of live sporting events for Blind and low vision people. The impetus for my piece was news from 9to5 Mac’s Ryan Christoffel that Apple was in talks with Spanish soccer club Real Madrid to trick out the team’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium with cameras capable of streaming Apple Immersive Video for visionOS. As Christoffel explained, the inspiration for the collaboration was literal accessibility: Real Madrid’s home was at capacity with its regular sellouts and thus couldn’t accommodate more fans to attend matches. The idea, then, was the deep immersion of Vision Pro could enable fans who couldn’t physically be at the venue to virtually feel like they are there.
My two loves—sports and technology—converge. You see, as a lifelong sports fan who happens to be a lifelong disabled person, attending sporting events in person has always been a bittersweet experience. On one hand, the ambient experience of being at the ballpark or arena or stadium is super fun because… sports! On the other hand, however, people ultimately shell out big bucks for tickets to, you know, actually watch the game(s). As someone with extremely low vision, the problem with this dichotomy is obvious—which side of me do I indulge? More often than not, like in March of last year when in Las Vegas to watch the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament, my closest cousins Jenn and her wife effectively had to text me play-by-play so I knew who was on the floor and what was going on. They also came to my (accessible) seat during halftime to check on me and ensure I was enjoying the festivities. Overall, it was a fun time; I did it a couple months later for a Bay FC home game down at San Jose’s PayPal Park—which, coincidentally, featured Nigeria-born Asisat Oshoala. The problem is, I don’t want the people I love feeling burdened by keeping me in the loop when at live events.
Enter OneCourt and its tactile tablet device.
On its website, the company boasts it’s enabling “the first tactile sports broadcast [by] transforming gameplay into trackable vibrations so fans with visual disabilities can watch the game with their fingertips.” According to OneCourt, 250 million people the world over “can experience sports intuitively and independently.” OneCourt notes it has received grants and awards from Microsoft’s AI for Accessibility Program, the University of Washington, National Science Foundation, and more. Additionally, OneCourt says it’s working “closely” with T-Mobile’s Tech Experience 5G Hub in an effort to “deliver a low-latency experiences in stadiums” for people with disabilities.
OneCourt’s tablet display features haptic feedback that allow Blind and low vision people to track the game(s) in real-time by way of audio and tactile vibrations. The software translates live gameplay into spatial feedback, giving a Blind or low vision person the ability to “watch” the game with only their fingertips. OneCourt worked closely with the NBA to ensure the immediacy of the experience, as the tablet is unhampered by the latency encountered by conventional radio broadcasts. OneCourt’s tech ensures an accurate, real-time depiction of the action happening on the floor.
Speaking of the NBA, the league’s Sacramento Kings—alongside their neighbors 579 miles north in the Portland Trail Blazers—have partnered with OneCourt and Ticketmaster to provide the former’s device free of charge to Blind and low vision fans who visit Golden 1 Center for a Kings’ home game. The partnership speaks to the organization’s ethos around inclusivity and enhancing the game experience for fans.
Put another way, the Kings’ rallying cry of “Light the beam!” is meant for every fan.
“The Sacramento Kings are committed to making live sports more inclusive, and our partnership with OneCourt and Ticketmaster is a major step forward,” the team said in a brief statement provided to me over email earlier this week. “This groundbreaking haptic technology allows Blind and Low Vision fans to experience the energy of the game in real-time through spatial vibrations and audio feedback. By providing these devices at Golden 1 Center, we’re reinforcing our dedication to accessibility and ensuring that all fans can engage with the excitement on the court.”
Yet despite the significance of the OneCourt device, it isn’t the Kings’ one and only nod to accessibility. Like the Pittsburgh International Airport, the organization has outfitted its arena with California’s first-ever sensory room in a sports setting. The room is festooned with texturized walls, soothing ambient sounds, specialized furniture, and more designed for those with autism and other neurodivergent people. What’s more, the Kings’ sensory room is welcome to anyone who needs a break—catering to those with dementia, PTSD, and like me, high anxiety. Additionally, the Kings offer so-called sensory kits consisting of noise-cancelling headphones, verbal cue cards, and more. Game-goers are able to check out the kits at Golden 1’s Guest Services Station, located at Sections 109 and 207. The room was developed in collaboration with KultureCity.
