LED Ball promises to improve soccer for hearing impaired

A remarkable invention promises to make a game of football for deaf footballers simpler and more enjoyable. The concept promises to reduce confusion and waste of time. Imagine a game of football played by people who are deaf. What happens when a foul or a rule infringement take place? What would the referee do if people with normal hearing abilities played the game? A loud whistle would be enough to indicate a foul. But deaf people cannot hear whistles - so how does the referee indicate a foul? All the referee needs to do is to press button of a remote control in his hand. This will turn on a few lights on the football which the footballers will see and stop the game.

LED Ball

How did the inspiration come about?

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LED Ball

It is a prototype that can improve the refereeing of deaf soccer.

A YouTube video provided the inspiration. The video was on a game of football played in the Deaflympics. The game was being played by people who were deaf. Each time a foul was committed, the referee would signal the foul with the help of flags. This was a highly ineffective way of refereeing as the players would naturally focus on the ball and not on signals from the referee. This meant a lot of confusion and an extension of the game much beyond the stipulated time.

The problem paved the way for a remarkable invention which could forever change the way a game of football is played by the hearing impaired. The main idea behind the invention was to provide visual signals to the players. The visual signals would come on when a foul is committed. The idea could also be extended to indicate player substitution, offside play and the start and end of regulation time.

How was the idea implemented?

A prototype was developed to test the efficacy and feasibility of the idea. The main components of the prototype were a ball, a circuit board, a remote control and an LED strip. The ball was cut open and the transmitter was connected to the LED strip on the ball. Lastly, the circuitry was implanted into the ball. In order to test the prototype, a game of football was played and the prototype worked well. Each time the button on the remote control was pressed, the LED lights would indicate a signal from the referee. Emboldened by the success of the idea, the proponents believe that the solution could be extended to games like Basketball, Rugby and Frisbee too.

Via: James Dyson Award