Gallaudet Makes Historical Tech Advance in Football

Together with AT&T, Gallaudet University has created the first-ever football helmet with heads-up display for deaf and hard-of-hearing players.

In June 2022, Gallaudet University and Sorenson, the parent company of CaptionCall, launched a strategic partnership that includes a series of initiatives to aid collaboration between the Deaf community and the businesses and institutions they interact with.

Now, the Washington D.C.-based university that provides bilingual education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students has partnered with telecommunications giant AT&T to integrate 5G cellular technology and augmented reality in the helmet. After showing promise, the team took the helmet to the NCAA. The association granted a one-time waiver for use of the new tech.

Head coach Chuck Goldstein stated in an article for PEOPLE, "Gallaudet University, in the 2023 football program, is going to be the first time that any team has used a one-way communication device for a visual communication device. It's been done with an audio one-way communication device, but it's never been done like this."