AT&T has delivered a first-of-its-kind football helmet to Gallaudet University, the global leader in bilingual education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, in Washington, D.C.
The telecommunications giant has collaborated with the university to deliver a 5G-connected helmet that will make it easier for coaches and players to communicate during games, making the game more inclusive.
This innovative helmet allows coaches on the sideline to select a play from a tablet that will appear inside the helmet on a lens. The quarterback wearing the helmet will be receiving the play in augmented reality on the digital display located within the visor.
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AT&T 5G will deliver the plays to ensure the Gallaudet Bison keep up with the pace of play.
"We work out the same way as every other college football program. We practice the same way, we compete the same way," Gallaudet head football coach Chuck Goldstein said in a press release. "The difference between coaching a hearing team compared to a Deaf team is, first, the communication. The AT&T 5G-connected helmet will change football."
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"The new AT&T 5G-connected helmet will have a major impact on the game of football, especially for our deaf and hard-of-hearing players who lacked direct access to communications with their coaches during their high school years," special teams coordinator and former Gallaudet player Shelby Bean added.
"This will help to level the playing field for mainstreamed athletes. As a former player, I am very excited to see this innovative technology change our lives and the game of football itself."
AT&T believes the technology could be used in any helmet for any sport, which would improve inclusion elsewhere.
AT&T posed the question, "Could a 5G-connected helmet improve safety on construction sites or for first responders?"
"Together with Gallaudet, we are proving that connecting changes everything," said Corey Anthony, senior vice president of network engineering and operations at AT&T. "Our expertise in connectivity, combined with Gallaudet's legacy of breaking down barriers, has created a helmet that not only transforms the way deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes engage in sports but opened up endless possibility for innovation."
On top of developing the helmet for the university, AT&T will also be donating $500,000 to the Gallaudet football program, and every Bison player will get a new helmet.
Gallaudet will debut the helmet against Hilbert College Oct. 7.
