by Michalis Michaelides

Sport unites people. The power of sport to bring out our purest emotions is why we love what we do. From the elation of a last-minute winner to the heartbreak of elimination, there is always a beautiful thread running through the experience; the feeling of being part of a community, sharing those emotions with fellow fans.

There are some fans, however, who have a far more restricted experience when watching sport. Among them is the blind and partially sighted community, for whom traditional broadcasts typically fall short, and the split-second drama of a rally can be nearly impossible to follow.

Earlier this year we partnered with the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), AKQA, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and the BBC to debut the HawkAR: Inclusive Feed on BBC iPlayer throughout the 2026 Championships, Wimbledon. Powered by HawkAR, Hawk-Eye's augmented reality visualisation product, and complemented by AKQA's Action Audio technology, the Inclusive Feed was built to give blind and visually impaired fans a way to experience tennis on equal footing with sighted viewers.

More Than a Broadcast Enhancement

HawkAR is best known across tennis, football, and other sports for a different kind of storytelling: real-time AR overlays that bring player speed,distance covered, and shot power to life for broadcasters and second-screen audiences. HawkAR: Inclusive Feed shows a different side of the same underlying technology. The tracking precision and real-time rendering that make HawkAR a broadcast enhancement tool are the exact same qualities that make it an accessibility tool for fans who would otherwise be locked out of the live experience altogether.

The Feed: One Broadcast, Two Layers

For every Centre Court singles match throughout The Championships in 2026, HawkAR: Inclusive Feed layered HawkAR's visual overlays alongside a synchronised audio layer from AKQA.

At its core is HawkAR’s high-contrast visual overlays of bounce points and shot paths, built specifically for partially sighted viewers. Complementing it, Action Audio converts Hawk-Eye's ball and player tracking data into a real-time 3D soundscape, letting fans hear a shot's bounce location in the court  and a player's shot type  as it happens.

Together, the two layers let fans follow a rally as it unfolded, in real-time, exactly as sighted fans do on broadcast.

Why HawkAR

HawkAR is powered by Hawk-Eye's SkeleTRACK tracking system, generating rich 3D augmented reality visualisations from the same precision data used across officiating and broadcast. That same infrastructure underpins several use cases already familiar to rights holders and broadcasters:

• Linear broadcast: data-driven replay sequences delivered directly into live coverage, in-game breaks, or post-match analysis.

• Second-screen experiences: real-time metrics like speed, acceleration, and player positioning, overlaid to create a next-generation, AR viewing experience, accessible by the end-user through an alternative feed usually within the same platform.
• Automated highlights: high-impact, data-driven storytelling across broadcast and social channels.

The HawkAR: Inclusive Feed applies that same technology stack toward a different outcome: not enhancing what a sighted viewer already sees, but building an entirely accessible visual layer for those who can't.

Part of a Bigger Picture at Wimbledon

The HawkAR:Inclusive Feed sat alongside the wider suite of Hawk-Eye technology already embedded across the Championships, from Hawk-Eye Live (Electronic Line Calling), and video review (which made its debut at The Championships 2026) to the broadcast analysis enhancements now familiar to viewers at home. Officiating accuracy, broadcast innovation, and accessibility weren't separate initiatives, they were part of the same commitment to bring innovation to every court. 

Looking Ahead

The HawkAR: Inclusive Feed is a proof point for what's possible when tracking data, built originally for officiating and broadcast storytelling, is redirected toward a problem sport has historically left unsolved. As augmented reality overlays and real-time data visualisation continue to mature across tennis and beyond, accessibility is no longer a niche add-on to sports innovation, it's becoming one of its clearest use cases.

* Testimonials from the feedback survey distributed to dedicated focus groups in July 2026.

Interested in learning more? Get in touch with us today, and speak to our teams to discuss your current project.