Deltatec, a Liège company specialising in advanced technologies, has just signed a major contract with the Belgian Football Pro League. The company has been chosen to provide the virtual offside technology for the VAR (video assistant referee). This technology automatically identifies the position of the players on the pitch and will make its debut for the next play-offs at the end of March.
Deltatec, founded in Ans in 1988 by three engineers (Christian Dutilleux, Olivier Roba and Michel Caubo) was originally a services company in cutting-edge electronics and IT technologies. Over the last 15 years, it has developed its expertise in five Business Units. The domains in question are industry, industrial vision, space and two Business Units linked to the world of television with its two sister companies: Deltacast.TV, which markets video cards for distributing television channels, and Deltacast, which is dedicated to augmented reality.
It was Deltacast that designed this new VAR technology. The company's tools are already used by all French-speaking operators showing football on television - RTBF, RTL, Proximus and VOO. It generally involves inserted images that can be seen during the match (shooting speed, virtual advertising on the pitch, offside line etc.). However, the technology that will be used for the VAR is much more sophisticated, as Christian Dutilleux (founder of Deltatec) explained. "Our solution is becoming a decision-making tool and not just an analysis tool. As this tool is very technical and can be integrated into any current VAR, a new market has opened up for us; this contract with the Pro League gives us access to the entire football ecosystem, not just video production."
The Deltatec Group currently employs almost 70 people and exports 80% of its expertise. The company is also a partner of one of its largest competitors in the augmented reality market, EVS, and is even working on the autonomous airship project of former EVS CEO Laurent Minguet, taking care of the steering. Together, the three companies in the Group (Deltatec, Deltacast.TV and Deltacast) achieved a gross operating margin of 5.4 million euros in 2007 and a net result of almost 763,000 euros. The turnover is not made public, but according to Christian Dutilleux it was around 10 million in 2018.
Walloon technological and digital innovation is known around the world. By signing this contract with the Football Pro League, Deltatec is confirming its influential position on the new technologies market, offering digital innovations known for their excellent quality.
Source : l'ECHO