OneCourt: Revolutionizing accessibility in live sports

DRANK

OneCourt, a Seattle-based startup, is on a mission to make live sports more accessible to fans who are Blind or Low Vision (BLV). By translating live gameplay data into trackable vibrations and audio commentary, OneCourt helps fans experience their favorite professional sports with their fingertips. The startup is launching commercially in stadiums and arenas before scaling to reach fans at home. The primary focus of OneCourt’s recentAI for Accessibilitygrant from Microsoft was to enhance the comprehension of live sports gameplay among BLV sports fans using data-generated haptics and audio description. Initially, OneCourt conducted a usability study to explore how tactile and audible feedback contribute to gameplay comprehension across sports like football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. The findings revealed that while audio is better suited for communicating gameplay events, player names, and emotions, haptics and tactile graphics are more preferred when conveying spatial detail…