Field of Vision
College students Tim Farrelly, Omar Salem, and David Deneher were looking for something to do in the long, secluded days of 2020 when they invented a game-changer for sight-impaired sports fans: a handheld device that helps blind and partially sighted fans feel the action in real time.
The white, tablet-sized device weighs less than a kilogram and rests in the user's lap, with a built-in headphone jack for access to audio commentary as the game is underway. Custom-built cameras are strategically positioned in each corner of the playing field, and artificial intelligence (AI) is used to transmit details from the game to a small magnetic ring that guides the user's finger around the table as the ball moves, vibrating to convey a change in possession or a tackle on the field.
Salem, an aerospace engineering graduate from Queen's University Belfast, first began imagining the project when he saw footage of a partially sighted soccer fan whose cousin was talking him through the action. Salem's idea, designed in collaboration with Farrelly and Deneher, was a 2021 runner-up for the James Dyson international student design prize in 2021 and included on Time's list of best inventions in 2022. This past June, Field of Vision won Best Initiative to Promote Inclusivity and Physical Activity at the Irish Sport Industry Awards, and their product is beginning to circle the globe.
The company has now raised some $300,000 in funding from various grants and prize money, and their device has been tested at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, which seats more than 50,000 fans. Last month, cameras were installed at the 53,000-seater Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, and 40 devices will be available at every game played there during next year's Australian Football League season.
"Long-term, we want to expand to all the major sports in the world and have it so that this is just a standard for stadiums and live venues to have within their infrastructure," Deneher said.
Field of Vision is currently selling to football teams across Europe's top five leagues -- Spain, England, France, Germany, and Italy -- and Deneher reports that his company plans to begin selling to US markets this year.
For fans like Declan Meenagh, who was born with a genetic eye condition that limits him to 5% vision, the Field of Vision device adds new levels of context that he often misses when the crowd gets too loud:
"It helps out a lot because you have a two-dimensional understanding of where the ball is on the pitch and how it moves, and you actually feel things move really quickly," he said. "Actually feeling where the football is and what's going on is a real game changer."
For the three now-college graduates who invented the Field of Vision tablet, the invention began as a mere curiosity -- as well as a desire to improve the lived experience of someone else. While we might not all invent international award-winning companies, we can each impact the life of someone else for the good today, and tomorrow, and the next day -- particularly when we are seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance to recognize the needs around us and step fully into God's plan.
How might you build a Field of Vision for someone else this fall, helping them to experience the infusion of the Holy Spirit in new and unmistakable ways?