Crystal Palace FC rolls out vision enhancement tech

Premier League football team Crystal Palace, in partnership with GiveVision and Shared Access, is offering a revolutionary vision enhancement system for fans with sight loss. Set to debut during the Crystal Palace vs Manchester United game at Selhurst Park on September 21st, this pioneering technology will be available to both home and away supporters.

The GiveVision headset, powered by a private 5G network designed and installed by Shared Access, streams live match footage directly to fans in real time. This system delivers an immersive, stereoscopic feed to the working part of the user’s retina, enhancing remaining vision and enabling them to follow the game in detail.

The key to this innovation lies in the private 5G network installed at Selhurst Park. Unlike traditional broadcasts that experience delays, the 5G-enabled GiveVision headsets receive an uninterrupted live feed, ensuring users see every moment in sync with the pitch action.

Unlike public networks, this private 5G system operates on its own radio band, immune to congestion from the tens of thousands of mobile devices typically in use on match days. This guarantees a seamless experience for GiveVision users. The network covers the entire stadium, allowing partially sighted fans to sit in their usual seats rather than being confined to designated areas. With one in 30 people in the UK affected by some degree of sight loss, this initiative addresses a significant gap in football accessibility.

Sharon Lacey, Chief Operating Officer at Crystal Palace FC, commented: “As a club, Crystal Palace FC are proud to be inclusive, and want everyone to enjoy the unique experience of a matchday at Selhurst Park. We are delighted to have adopted the GiveVision technology, an innovative way we hope to advance our matchday offering which builds on our ongoing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work throughout the club and across our workforce, partner and worldwide community. To accompany the deployment of GiveVision and our work with Shared Access, we are also the first Premier League club to deploy a private 5G network to provide a seamless experience for GiveVision users.”

Sam Jackman, Chief Development Officer at Shared Access, said: “We’ve been working with Crystal Palace for over five years, so when they approached us to help them find a way to deploy such an incredible piece of technology as GiveVision across their stadium to help their fans we leapt at the chance. Private 5G networks are in their infancy, but having partners like Crystal Palace to stimulate and challenge the role of technology inside sport is the best way to innovate in this area.”

Joanna Liddington, Head of Operations at GiveVision, added: At GiveVision, we are incredibly proud to partner with Shared Access and Crystal Palace FC, the first football club in the world to permanently implement our innovative headsets for fans with low vision. This ground-breaking step not only highlights the club’s commitment to inclusivity but also showcases the transformative potential of assistive technology in sports. Thanks to the 5G network provided by Shared Access, Palace fans with low vision can now enjoy the game in real-time, from any seat in the stadium, alongside their friends and family. Our goal is to make sure football is an equal playing field for all, creating a more inclusive and immersive experience for every supporter.”