Vodafone #FeelTheConnection Haptic Suits
Fuse
Client: Vodafone
As Official Connectivity partner of Mighty Hoopla, it provided Vodafone with a credible platform to develop a solution to a real-life issue and encourage more accessible and inclusive experiences at live events. Working with technology partners, Music: Not Impossible and Unit9, Vodafone combined cutting-edge haptic and AI technology with their 5G network to enable deaf and hard-of-hearing fans to feel live music in a new way through innovative haptic suits, which were a first for UK festivals. Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants for the activation were sourced from the Hoopla Community and VodaBILITY, the Vodafone inclusion network which focuses on #UnlimitingPeople. Participants were able to experience the suits during sets from artists including Jessie Ware, Steps and Sugababes and could tailor the vibration levels to suit their own level of deafness. The design of the suits and the created content took into consideration the needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community to ensure Vodafone provided a genuinely inclusive experience, consulting with deaf producers during editing and including BSL, subtitling and captions on assets so they were accessible to everyone. The suits were a resounding success with fantastic feedback from participants, one saying it ‘made them feel like superman!’, as well as generating a 100% positive/neutral reaction to the content.