How does it work?
Action Audio works by turning spatial data from real time ball monitoring into 3D sound. The system emphasises ball movements and augments critical moments to allow blind and low vision audiences to follow the game without seeing the ball.
The sound of Action Audio has been informed by four design principles
Social Consideration
Watching sports is a valuable social activity. Action Audio is designed so that everyone can watch together.
Existing Sound Languages
Where possible, we've adopted similar sound cues to those used to blind sports to remain consistent and familiar with the global blind sports community.
Accentuated Tension Points
Sport is all about pushing the limits. Our solution emphasises dramatic moments to signal when a breakthrough is approaching.
Selective Auditory Attention
We filter out sounds around us in order to focus on other things. We designed Action Audio to be ‘filterable’ so as not to unnecessarily distract.
What does it sound like?
The sound of Action Audio for tennis is based on the game of Blind Tennis, where players use a tennis ball filled with bells. The ringing of the bells enables players to hear the position of the ball when it is hit, when it bounces and as it flies through the air. Action Audio recreates this soundscape using 3D audio technology augmented with synthetic tones to give the listener further information about what is happening in real-time.
Headphones test
It is best to listen to Action Audio through headphones. Before you listen to the samples, use this test to make sure they are on the right way around.
Bounces
When the ball bounces, a bell sound will ring. This sound is positioned in 3D space so that you can judge where on the court the bounce occurred.
As well as the bell sound, a bounce may also be accompanied by a series of short 'blip' tones to indicate how close the ball is to the line. Like the parking sensors on a car, more blips means that the ball is closer to the line. 1 click means the ball is over 60% of the way to the line from the center of the court, 2 clicks means the the ball is over 80% of the way to the line from the center of the court, and 3 blips means the ball is over 90% of the way to the line from the center of the court
Hits
When a player hits the ball, a bell sound will ring. Just like the bounces, this sound is positioned in 3D space so that you can judge where on the court the hit occurred.
As well as the bell sound, a hit is always accompanied by another tone that indicates if the hit was a forehand, backhand or overhead/serve. A high pitch tones indicates a forehand, a slightly lower pitched tone indicates a backhand, and the lowest pitched tone indicates a serve or overhead smash.
Action Audio at 2024 AO
In this clip, you can listen to a sample of Action Audio configured for the game of tennis. It features players Ash Barty and Danielle Collins in the second set of the Australian Open 2022 women's singles final.
Imagine you are standing behind Barty and Collins is serving towards you from the far end of the court. Note that the sound design for Action Audio differs between sporting codes.
Action Audio at 2026 Wimbledon
In this clip, you can listen to a sample of Action Audio configured for BBC's Inclusive feed at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships. Available on BBC iPlayer in partnership with Hawkeye's HawkAR visual overlay.
Available on centre court matches, Action Audio for Wimbledon 2026 has been configured for forehand hits, backhand hits, when the ball bounces and how close to the boundary line it is.
Get in touch
If you'd like to explore how Action Audio could be implemented into your sports broadcast, or if you'd like to participate in testing and development, we'd love to hear from you.
Or email us directly at
contact@action-audio.com