Newcastle United-Sela pioneering Sound Shirts

Article posted by Coliseum, August 27^th, 2024

Image: Newcastle United

The Premier League team Newcastle United F.C. and the club’s principal partner – the live event and experiences company Sela – have committed to creating a lasting legacy for the fans who are deaf or have hearing loss by making haptic shirt technology available at the Newcastle United home arena – the St. James’ Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK) – throughout the 2024-2025 seasons.

‘newcastleunited.com’ stated that a world-first initiative, the haptic shirts – created by CuteCircuit (British fashion brand) – were introduced through Sela’s trailblazing ‘Unsilence the Crowd’ campaign which marked the Deaf Awareness Week 2024.

The Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.

The St James’ Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK). It is the home of the Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,350 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.

Sela is a live event and experiences company that uses haptic technology to help the deaf and the hard of hearing fans experience the atmosphere of the live sporting events.

Haptic technology is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user.

The haptic shirts are wearable technologies that use haptic technology to provide realtime touch sensations.

The CuteCircuit is a fashion company based in London (UK) founded in 2004 by Ryan Genz and Francesca Rosella. The CuteCircuit designs wearable technology and interactive fashion. All the CuteCircuit garments are designed by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz.

The ‘Unsilence the Crowd’ is a powerful campaign designed to improve fan accessibility in football by using haptic technology while raising awareness of the live sports experience for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.

‘newcastleunited.com’ further stated that transforming stadium noise into a realtime touch sensation, the cutting-edge haptic technology enabled the deaf fans to feel the famous St. James’ Park atmosphere like never before. The technology debuted during ‘The Magpies’ 4-0 win against their peer team the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in April and will now become a permanent fixture of the club’s growing accessibility offering.

The new ‘Sela Sound Shirts’ will be made available to the Season Ticket Holders and the Members with hearing impairments as part of Sela’s drive to continue delivering spectacular experiences for the fans.

Sound Shirts

The Sela Sound Shirts are designed to enhance the matchday experience for the fans with hearing impairments by transforming the stadium noise into a realtime touch sensation.

The shirts use conductive textiles and haptic modules that are integrated into the fabric. The microphones capture the sound around the pitch which is converted using specialized software. This software transforms the crowd noise into touch data which is wirelessly transmitted to the shirts via an antenna – allowing the fans to feel the live stadium atmosphere.

Sela Sound Shirt Eligibility

The Newcastle United Season Ticket Holders and the Members that have a registered hearing impairment can apply to access the Sela Sound Shirts. Applications will then be processed via a ballot system ahead of the home league fixtures during the 2024-2025 seasons.

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