Image credit – Ian White visiting Ibrox where the technology is being used to help those who are visually impaired.
Rangers FC is leading the way when it comes to providing an inclusive experience for supporters and visitors who suffer with sight issues.
The Scottish giants have invested in a fantastic OrCam MyEye 2, a piece of equipment which gives disabled supporters a better and more accessible matchday experience.
Football is a game which is viewed and enjoyed by millions of fans per year, and this is no different for disabled fans.
Many disabled football supporters follow their beloved teams around the world. However, what is different for disabled people when attending football matches is the barriers which they face when trying to attend football matches.
A piece of equipment that has been able to do just that, and tear down barriers faced by visually impaired supporters, is the MyEye 2. Created by OrCam, the MyEye 2 is designed to look over and analyse information from text and photographs and then relay the information back to the user.
I spoke to Ian White, the man who brought the My Eye 2 to Scottish football.
“The first club that reached out to us was Hearts. We went to Edinburgh, and I did a presentation with the accessibility team at Hearts. Then Hearts invited us to an open day where some visually impaired fans came along and were able to get their hands on a demonstration of the device.”
This interest from the Jambos was then followed by talks with Rangers, with the Gers wanting to bring in the device to enhance the matchday experience.
Ian spoke about how Rangers planned to incorporate the technology into their stadium tours and matchday experience. He said: “I presented the MyEye to the accessibility team at Rangers and they invited me to bring the My Eye along to one of their touch tours. I used the device to touch pictures of players and other pieces memorabilia on tour. This information was then relayed back to me.” Ian also mentioned that at this moment, Rangers wanted to get involved with the My Eye.
Mr White spoke of what Rangers looked to do with the technology going forward.
“They were going to use it for stadium tours or make it available to any guest who came to Ibrox Stadium that were visually impaired or who have challenges reading, such as dyslexia.”
The Gers also use the equipment in their quiet rooms where their supporters can use it to read to the matchday program.
Rangers were the first European team to implement the MyEye for their visually impaired supporters.
Ian applauded the Ibrox side for taking a step forward with the equipment.:
“It was quite a ground-breaking step from Rangers’ point of view, from the way I looked at it, because they were doing something outside the norm. He also spoke of the difference it made to the stadium tours at Ibrox.
“Normally if a fan wanted to go to the stadium for a tour, they would have a site guide with them and the custodian would explain everything in detail…you know, ‘oh, this is a picture of the,1901 team’ and they would read out the names of the players that were in the photograph so they spent a lot of time explaining.
“When they implemented the MyEye and introduced it to the fans, the fans were able to go to the photo point to it and the ORCAM would read all the information that was there within the photograph.”
So, are any other clubs looking MyEye? “We had a demo session with Hibs, but they decided to take no further. Also, Celtic looked at it, but also chose not to take it further.
How has the OrCam technology been received? Ian added: “The feedback was really good with two or three people asking for a private demo.”
Overall, it is vital that barriers which stop or make it difficult for disabled football supporters to attend football continue to be knocked down, and technology such as the MyEye2 is making football more accessible for visually impaired supporters.
