CHENNAI: Last year, Lord's hosted disability cricket on the main ground for the first time. The venue once again was the host to men's disability teams from England and India for a match on June 25 this year to celebrate the Disability Cricket Day.
The players were in for a pleasant surprise this time as they were showcased a technology that could help them navigate the stadium hassle free and on their own.
Waymap developed a wayfinding technology and fitted the Lord's with it making it the first sports arena in the world to have such a navigation tools for spectators including for differently-abled ones.
"India and England's mixed disability cricket teams played an exciting game at The Home of Cricket on the 25th of June to celebrate Disability Cricket Day. It was an important moment for our team to be able to showcase Waymap's technology at such an appropriate occasion," Celso Zuccollo, the chief executive of Waymap, told this daily.
Ahead of the third Test between hosts England and India, a few specially-abled persons including Moshfique Ahmed, England a visually-impaired cricketer, tried the app and gave their feedback to the company to resolve the issues, if any, to enable them to have better access to live sports.
"Visually impaired users are at the core of Waymap's mission to help anyone navigate anywhere, so we are continuously seeking feedback from VI and specially-abled users. We had overwhelmingly positive feedback at our launch at Lord's last month. Ahmed, a blind cricketer for England, thought 'The idea is amazing for blind people. If it works 100% properly, I can come to the train station myself, I can cross the road myself and I can come to the stadium and find my way with the app. I know so many people who are into sports but don't go. This would push the door completely open for them,"' added Zuccollo.
Unfortunately, the exact numbers of specially-abled fans visiting the Day One of the contest on Thursday could not be obtained as the venue doesn't record ambulant disabilities or or any other conditions while selling tickets. However, Stuart Dunlop, sustainability and accessibility manager at the Lord's, said they have reached a more diverse range of disabilities than before. "We are always striving to improve accessibility and inclusion at Lord's as one of our key mottos is that we are A ground for all," said Dunlop.
On being asked why Lord's was chosen and not any other venues in the city, Zuccollo said: "Lord's Cricket Ground is an iconic British venue, seeped in cultural significance within London and it also happens to be a very complex stadium. What's more, the team at Lord's are dedicated to leading the way in accessibility for sports venues, making it the ideal location to showcase what Waymap can do for both visually-impaired users and the general population alike."
Speaking on how the app functions, he said, "Waymap’s highly-accurate personal navigation system offers step-by-step audio and on-screen instructions to help visitors find their way to seats, amenities and exits at Lord’s using our Smart Step algorithm, an AI-based positioning algorithm which allows us to understand where you are within the stadium and how you move through it. Ahead of the third Test, we mapped the venue using Lidar technology which then allows us to know where you are within the iconic Cricket Ground."
The company is currently in talks with several sporting venues and will be excited to introduce the technology in India if the venues in the country wish to encourage fans, regardless of accessibility requirements, to come to the grounds and enjoy the sport they love. "We have a number of projects around the world and would be incredibly excited to bring our technology to some of India's iconic cricket stadiums. If there are any stadiums wishing to support their specially-abled fans, we encourage them to reach out to our team so we can begin working together on improving match-day experiences for all attendees at their venue," signed off Zuccollo.