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Paris Olympics embrace accessibility technology for visually impaired fans

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Paris Olympics embrace accessibility technology for visually impaired fans
News

News

Paris Olympics embrace accessibility technology for visually impaired fans

2024-08-11 00:17 Last Updated At:00:20

PARIS (AP) — As Paris shines under the global spotlight of the Olympic Games, technological innovations are enabling people with visual impairments to take it in.

Each Olympic venue is a mosaic of singular stories, from the athletes to the spectators. Even before the Paralympic Games begin later this month, Paris 2024 organizers strove to make the Olympics more accessible.

“For these Games, we wanted to carefully listen to the ecosystem of people with disabilities,” said Ludivine Munos, a former Paralympic swimming medalist responsible for integrating accessibility as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.

“Our goal is precisely to provide an experience with as few barriers as possible. People with disabilities have specific needs and sometimes find it difficult to understand what is happening on the field,'' she said.

A standout innovation is the Vision Pad, a tactile tablet designed to add another layer of interaction for those with visual impairments. It features a moving magnetic ball, representing the ball in play on a court or a field. Users run their fingers across the tablet to keep track of the movement of the ball.

With a whole basketball court at her fingertips, Olympic enthusiast Zoé Thierry described her first experience with the pad, at the Bercy Arena for the Greece-Germany quarterfinal on Tuesday: “This time, we are truly immersed in the action, we can really follow the ball.''

“In addition to the great atmosphere, of course, because I could always feel that. But it’s a great addition to the game,” she adds.

A total of 45 tablets are available, and can only cover ball games for now. It's being used for basketball, soccer and rugby at the Olympics and four sports at the Paralympics. ‘’It would be good if we had it for individual sports too,'' Thierry said.

Other new technologies also address visual impairments. One app helps visually impaired people find their seats in trains. Another is the Low-Vision Helmet, which allows users to zoom in on an athlete, race or action. Visually impaired individuals wear it on their eyes, like a VR headset. It's connected to the venues' broadcast feed, letting users switch between live-action and televised coverage, Munos explains.

In France’s largest stadium, the Stade de France — where the thrill is the strongest but the athletes look the smallest — the Low-Vision Helmet really comes into its own.

French visitor Florian Trichaud, who has visual impairments and considers sports his “drug,” wore the helmet for a track and field final in the Stade de France on Thursday. A big soccer fan, he usually likes going to sporting events ‘’just for the atmosphere and the fan culture.''

“With this headset, I was able to experience things visually, and it’s hard to realize, but being able to see the elements and feel included makes a real difference for us,” he said.

Trichaud noted a few limitations: “The resolution could still be improved, and the headset can be quite tiring for the eyes.”

The products were designed by companies including GiveVision, Touch2See and Ezymob, which partnered with the Paris 2024 organizing committee to introduce the technologies to the Olympic realm.

Another vital technology for visually impaired people is audio description.

“The aim is to describe everything happening in the stadium in the smallest details — movement, atmosphere, colors, action,'' said Adrien Izard-Le Calvé, a French audio descriptor.

Seated next to his colleague Joana Wexsteen, the two are the eyes of the Stade de France. Audio description echoes around 15 sports at the Paris Olympics. While the technology was available for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, this is the first time its used at Olympic sporting events, she said.

“Being able to assist people with visual impairments is incredible. What we are experiencing is exceptional, and helping these individuals feel as included as anyone else is crucial,'' Wexsteen said.

Anyone with visual impairments can connect to the audio description broadcast on the Paris2024 Olympics app, and with a pair of earphones follow the game.

Organizers worked to make sure people were aware the technology was available and make it easy to access. They “sent emails and communicated with all ticket holders, including people with disabilities, to inform them about everything available during the Games,” Munos said.

There is still work to be done to allow all people to enjoy the spectacle of buzzer beaters, a 6.25-meter pole vault, aces, knockouts, sprints and butterfly strokes. But Paris organizers are trying to set a precedent for inclusivity and accessibility at big sporting events.

“I think it’s essential for the sake of legacy, that it continues for future games. One of the biggest disappointments would be if we made progress in these games only to regress afterward,” Wexsteen says.

For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.

FILE - A view of the Stade de France stadium, Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

FILE - A view of the Stade de France stadium, Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A$AP Rocky turned down a final prosecution plea offer of 180 days in jail, risking the possibility of a guilty verdict and years in prison as jury selection began at his trial on Tuesday.

The agreement offered to the 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and actor was to plead guilty to one of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Los Angeles County prosecutors would also recommend a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and the six-month jail term.

But Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, told a judge he respectfully declined.

He is accused of firing at a former friend near a Hollywood hotel in 2021, and could get a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina also revealed for the first time in court Tuesday that the defense plans to call witnesses to testify that a firearm seen on a security video is a starter pistol that Rocky carried as a prop for security.

A panel of more than 100 prospective jurors were summoned to the downtown Los Angeles courtroom and packed into the gallery. Opening statements will come once 12 of them and alternates are seated. That won't be until at least Wednesday, when selection is set to resume. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom starting with openings.

The Grammy-nominated hip-hop star's longtime partner is Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons together. Tacopina suggested that it's unlikely the pop star will show up in court.

Rocky has been named one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May, and has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after. But his life could be upended with a conviction.

Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold has said he hopes to seat a jury quickly, and is keeping strict limits on how long attorneys can question prospective jurors.

“Mr. Mayers is an entertainer," Arnold told the prospective jurors. "His stage name is A$AP rocky. His life partner is also an entertainer. Her name is Rihanna. Because Mr. Mayers is an entertainer, a celebrity, that cannot harm him, and it cannot benefit him."

Of the initial 12 jurors questioned, four said they knew who Rocky was, and 10 said they knew who Rihanna was.

In 2023, another judge ruled after a preliminary hearing that Rocky should stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship had soured and a feud came to a head on the night of Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed his knuckles.

Initial questioning on Tuesday revealed that the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires have affected many of the potential jurors' lives, including one woman who is fostering many displaced animals, and at least one man who had to evacuate. The judge himself revealed he had to evacuate from his home for 11 days.

“Luckily the house didn’t burn down," Arnold said.

One man was excused early in the process because he said his anti-gun feelings were too strong for him to be fair.

Tacopina tried to explore the potential jurors' feelings about hip-hop artists and their music, and several said they had negative feelings, though not overwhelming ones. Some cited parenting as the reason.

“I used to love it but then I had a kid,” one panelist said.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, questioning for the prosecution, told those with negative feelings, “You will not be called upon to render a verdict on how you feel about rap music, do you understand that?" All said yes.

Tacopina, who like his client Rocky is from New York and has represented President Donald Trump, also asked whether anyone on the jury is rubbed the wrong way by New Yorkers, bringing laughs throughout the room.

“When I get up here with this ridiculous accent, which I try not to have but I do, is anyone going to have a problem?" he said. “I will point out that we gave you guys the Dodgers a few years ago.”

No one conceded any negative feelings.

“I love LA," the lawyer added.

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

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