Accessibility for All: OneCourt’s Jerred Mace, Alexa Garay on Supplying Haptic Displays for Blind/Low Vision Fans at Portland Trail Blazers Home Games

Watching sports inside a venue is a communal and shared experience, and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Moda Center has become a more inclusive environment this season. Striking a deal with OneCourt, an innovative company that develops devices with generative audio and haptics for blind and low-vision fans, the NBA franchise will allow these fans to access these devices for the rest of the home schedule. OneCourt translates live gameplay into trackable vibrations, so fans can follow the live gameplay with their fingertips. The real-time data is translated into OneCourt’s haptic language before it’s experienced by the fan as intuitive vibrations on the surface of the haptic display.

In this interview, OneCourt Founder/CEO Jerred Mace and Growth and Partnerships Lead Alexa Garay give a deeper look at the tech that’s powering the haptic display, how the Trail Blazers became a key partner in the NBA, how fans at the venue have reacted to this new experience, the company’s growth at other sporting events like the MLB All-Star Game, how user feedback is used to enhance the device, and how they plan to expand into other sports in the future.

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OneCourt devices will be available to fans at Moda Center on a first come, first served basis. Fans can email guest.experience@trailblazers.com for reservation inquiries. The devices may be checked out from the Guest Services stand at Entry A7, A24 on the 100-Level and C23 on the 300-Level at each game. For the remainder of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, the arena will have five devices available at no additional cost to fans.

For those interested in bringing OneCourt to their community, visit their website at Onecourt.io or contact COO/Co-Founder Antyush Bollini at [email protected].