What if you could follow the movement of a soccer ball without seeing the field?
For blind and low-vision sports fans, that question is becoming a reality thanks to a Seattle company called OneCourt.
Welcome to Fair Play, Varium’s series highlighting the people and organizations using technology to expand access, remove barriers, and create opportunities for people too often left out.
First up: OneCourt.
The Mission
OneCourt has developed a portable device that translates live sporting events into tactile feedback.
Using a raised representation of the playing field and vibrations that track the action, the device allows blind and low-vision fans to follow the movement of the ball and experience the rhythm of the game through touch.
Paired with audio commentary, it offers another way to participate in the excitement of live sports. It allows fans to experience the action alongside everyone else in the stadium.
The Moment
In 2026, OneCourt brought its technology to the FIFA World Cup, supporting accessible fan experiences in Seattle, Vancouver, and Dallas.
For a small team with an ambitious mission, it was an extraordinary stage. But the impact is best understood through the people using the technology.
James Kwinecki, who lost his vision at 21, described his experience at a World Cup match in Vancouver:
“For the first time since losing my vision, I truly felt connected to the game.”
That connection is what makes OneCourt’s work so meaningful. It’s the opportunity to follow a play independently, react with the crowd, and share the experience as it unfolds.
A way back into something you love.
What It Takes Behind the Scenes
Bringing an accessible experience to an event as large as the World Cup requires more than an innovative device. It takes engineering, dependable data, real-time performance, and a team capable of supporting the technology when fans need it.
OneCourt’s work demonstrates how a focused, mission-driven company can develop technology with an impact far beyond its size.
AI-assisted development and operational tools can help smaller engineering teams move faster, improve visibility into their systems, and manage increasingly complex deployments. But the measure of success here is the experience delivered to the fan.
Can someone follow the game as it happens? Does the technology respond reliably? Does it make the event more accessible?
That’s where the engineering meets the mission.
Why We’re Close to This One
Aaron Edwards has spent the past several months advising OneCourt’s team as part of Varium’s work supporting organizations building and scaling meaningful technology.
It’s the kind of collaboration we value.
Helping a mission-driven team develop the capabilities, processes, and technical foundation to pursue an ambitious goal, and keeping the focus where it belongs: on the people whose experiences are changing because that work exists.
That’s Fair Play
OneCourt is a reminder that innovation can be measured by more than technical performance.
Sometimes the most meaningful outcome is a fan feeling the movement of the ball, following the action independently, and celebrating a goal alongside everyone else.
That’s technology expanding access. And that’s exactly the kind of work Fair Play exists to recognize.
Know a small team using AI or technology to make a meaningful difference? We’d love to hear their story.
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