Thanks to revolutionary haptic technology, deaf fans visiting St James’s Park will experience a passion for football like never before.
Newcastle‘s sponsor, Sela, has designed a bespoke sound shirt that ‘unsilences the crowd’ by transforming the stadium’s noise in real-time into a tangible sensation.
Revolutionary kits redefine the matchday experience for deaf fans
Lifelong Toon fans David Wilson and Ryan Gregson, both with hearing loss, helped inspire the technology. These season ticket holders will “feel the atmosphere” for the first time when Newcastle takes on Tottenham this Saturday.
The shirts, which replicate the club’s 2023/24 home kits, leverage ubiquitous microphones planted around the system to send sound wave data through the garment’s nine electronic modules. The implanted circuits then vibrate and light up in synch with the roar of fan noise.
The technology developed by London-based Cute Circuit had to be adapted from its use in classic music concerts to a live sports event atmosphere.
Newcastle and Saudi sports marketing company Sela will donate all proceeds driven through front-of-shirt sponsorship placement and in-game banner advertising to RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf).
Photos: x/NUFC
