[Left to right – Michael Sieders, (Associate Producer, Dance, Sydney Opera House), Karina Elliott, Guus Hoevenaars (Newmarket Collective), Hannah McPierzie (DFA Director), Kylie Davies (Newmarket Collective), Hiten Bawa (Access Consultant Architect), Mike Tudorowski (Audio/Haptics Engineer), Rae Walker (DFA Chair), three x female participants, Far left – Brendon Lonergan (Hearing Matters Australia).]


For many people, music and dance begin with sound. But what if a performance could be experienced through movement, vibration and touch instead?

Chair of Deafness Forum Australia, Rae Walker is fitted for a haptic vest by Founder of The Newmarket Collective: Kylie Davies while Channel 7 camera operator captures it.

That question sits at the heart of the work being led by The Newmarket Collective, whose pioneering haptic vest technology is helping reshape what accessibility can look like across Australia’s arts sector.

Following a successful collaboration with Sydney Dance Company and Deafness Forum Australia, audiences wearing the vests experienced a contemporary dance performance in an entirely new way, transforming music, rhythm and sound into detailed vibrations felt throughout the body.

It wasn’t simply about making a performance accessible. It was about ensuring everyone could experience the same moment together.

“We’re not trying to create a separate experience,” explains Kylie Davies, Director and founder of The Newmarket Collective.

“Our mission is a shared experience for everyone. Whatever your hearing ability, everyone should be able to be in the same room enjoying the same performance together.”

The Technology and the Philosophy

Haptic vest images: courtesy of Music. Not Impossible

Haptic vest images: courtesy of Music. Not Impossible

That philosophy has guided the organisation from the very beginning. What began as a collaboration with Deaf artists has grown into one of Australia’s most exciting accessibility innovations in technology made by international pioneers Music: Not Impossible. Kylie and The Newmarket Collective have acquired 12 of only 100 vests in the world to allow for accessible-led performances and collaboration with D/deaf and hard of hearing Australians.

Today, their system includes a wearable vest, wristbands and ankle bands containing 24 individual haptic touch points that translate music, instruments and sound effects into highly detailed patterns of vibration across the body. The result is something far more nuanced than simply “feeling the bass.” Each musical element can be mapped to different parts of the body, creating an immersive sensory experience that allows rhythm, emotion and movement to be experienced physically.

Accessibility that benefits everyone

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the technology is that it wasn’t designed exclusively for Deaf and hard of hearing audiences. It was designed to create richer experiences for everyone. Rather than separating accessible performances from mainstream audiences, the haptic system encourages shared participation where Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing audience members experience the same performance together, each in their own way.

For Kylie, that distinction matters. “It’s about providing another tool,” she says. “It’s about removing barriers and sharing experiences.”

A milestone for Australian performing arts

The Sydney Dance Company collaboration represented another significant step in that vision. While the technology has previously been used for theatre and live music performances, this marked the first time the vests had been integrated into a contemporary dance production in Australia. Audience members who wore the vests described emotional and deeply personal responses, with many taking time after the performance to share their experiences directly with the project team.

Reflecting afterwards, Kylie described the weekend as “beyond successful.” The vests really made an impact on those people and gave them an opportunity to experience the performance in a completely new way. Lots of emotions.”

The collaboration also formed part of Deafness Forum Australia’s Cultural Institutions gathering, bringing together museums, galleries, performing arts organisations and accessibility leaders to explore how lived experience and emerging technologies can help shape more inclusive cultural spaces.

Looking ahead

The Newmarket Collective is already looking at what’s next. Their next major project brings together Deaf and hearing artists in what they describe as a world-first orchestral collaboration, featuring original poetry and music performed in Auslan as the first language, supported through haptic composition.

With years in development, this production continues the collective’s mission of ensuring accessibility isn’t considered an afterthought but an essential part of artistic innovation. As Australia’s cultural sector continues to rethink how audiences engage with live performance, projects like these demonstrate that accessibility doesn’t diminish artistic experiences. It expands them.

For the one in five Australians living with hearing loss, that’s more than technological innovation. It’s an invitation to experience culture in ways that were once unimaginable.

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