Nuggets debut new tech for blind and low-vision fans
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Julie Deden and Dan Burke use the OneCourt device at Ball Arena. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios
Julie Deden usually catches Denver Nuggets games on the radio, reliving every Nikola Jokić lob and Aaron Gordon dunk by sound alone.
Zoom in: Deden, the Colorado Center for the Blind's executive director, has been blind her entire life. But recently at Ball Arena, she and her husband, Dan Burke, got to experience their fandom in a whole new way.
The big picture: The Nuggets partnered with Ticketmaster and Seattle-based startup OneCourt this season to provide a tactical broadcast device that gives blind and low-vision fans like Deden and Burke an opportunity to "see" games at the arena.
How it works: Fans drag their hands across the device to feel vibrations created by over 200 motors mimicking live play on the court.
- The data informing the devices comes directly from chips inside player jerseys and the basketball used by the NBA to track key metrics, according to Ticketmaster senior director for client development Scott Aller.
What they're saying: "I've never experienced anything like this ... actually being able to feel, to tell what's going on," Deden said after using the device.
If you go: Five devices are available for Nuggets games on a first-come basis from the guest relations desk in the Grand Atrium.