By Stephen Whyno
AT&T and Gallaudet University have developed a football helmet for players who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate using American Sign Language.
The company and Washington-based school for students who are deaf or hard of hearing unveiled the new technology Thursday.
It allows a coach to call a play on a tablet from the sideline that then shows up visually on a small display screen inside the quarterback’s helmet. Gallaudet, which competes in Division III, was cleared by the NCAA to use the helmet in its game on Saturday at home against Hilbert.
Gallaudet coach Chuck Goldstein said he thinks the helmet “will change football.”
“We work out the same way as every other college football program, we practice the same way, we compete the same way," Goldstein said. “The difference between coaching a hearing team compared to a Deaf team is first the communication.”
The final product is the result of almost two years of communication between the team and AT&T, which came up with the concept as a way to close the inclusion gap for the Deaf community with its 5G network.
“We came up with ideas on how to make this helmet more effective (and) we’d interact with (players and coaches)," said Corey Anthony, AT&T senior VP of networking engineering and operations. "They would give us feedback. We’d go back, make changes, work on it. It’s just a beautiful relationship that we have with that university.”
Anthony said the company also leaned on employees who are deaf or hard of hearing during the process.
“This is probably one of the more sort of exciting and enriching projects that we’ve worked on in a very long time,” he said.
The Cheddar Sports crew caught up with Goldenboy ahead of the Overwatch Grand Finals for his thoughts on who he thinks will score a win and which players to watch.
The Cheddar Sports crew caught up with the team members of the Philadelphia Fusion, who upset the top-seeded New York Excelsior in the first round of the Overwatch championship. Getting to this weekend's Grand Finals, the team said, is a dream come true.
Stephen Revetria, Senior Vice President of the San Francisco Giants, joins Cheddar's Alyssa Julya Smith to talk hosting the Rugby World Cup Sevens and major tech advances at AT&T Park.
Jay Williams, a second-round pick in the 2002 NBA draft, has been a major proponent of paying college athletes. But he says the league needs real disruption to get those in charge to see the light.
These are the headlines you Need2Know
Mark Griffin, commercial director at USA Rugby, doesn't want to be the NFL or MLB. Rather, Griffin wants to spread the sport by forming rugby clubs at high schools and colleges. "The college infrastructure in America is absolutely incredible and second to none," he told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need2Know
Nearly 150 victims of Larry Nassar's sexual misconduct stood on stage Wednesday during the ESPY Awards to accept the Arthur Ashe prize for courage. Josh Hill, Senior Editor at FanSided, explains that their visibility will raise general awareness for sexual abuse, far beyond the arena of sports.
These are the headlines you Need2Know
The pro wrestler and his wife's new reality show, "Miz and Mrs," debuts on USA July 24. The Miz tells Cheddar that if he had to fight a tech titan, he'd pick Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. "My recycling bin is out the roof. I need like three different recycling bins all filled with Amazon boxes because [Maryse] loves Amazon Prime."
