A long time supplier of sports production technology around the world, ChyronHego is extending that reputation by licensing new virtual technology from Fraunhofer IIS to enhance live televised soccer matches. Under the agreement, ChyronHego will help develop and bring to market Fraunhofer's GoalRef system, a Goal-Line Technology (GLT) solution for measuring whether a goal has been scored or not.

The Fraunhofer GoalRef system, which is also licensed by FIFA, uses a magnetic field within the goal and a specially designed ball bladder within the balls supplied by most major ball manufacturers. The system can accurately and precisely determine whether a ball has crossed the goal line or not, even if the ball is completely hidden from view. Once a goal is detected, the system communicates through a dedicated, secure, and encrypted wireless network to a specially designed watch that indicates the goal visually and through vibration to the referee.

As a licensee of the GoalRef technology, ChyronHego said it would continue to develop the system by applying its own special expertise in visually impressive replays of goal-line events, which can be used either by broadcasters or on big screens in stadiums.

“At ChyronHego, we’re excited to have entered into regulatory assistance within football; in fact, we have been considering possible solutions to the goal-line challenge for a number of years,” said Ian Wray, sports industry director at ChyronHego, revealing that before this agreement ChyronHego had its own camera-based Tracab live player-tracking system (already in widespread use by many of the top football leagues around the world).

“However, by partnering with Fraunhofer IIS, we firmly believe we have identified the ideal technology approach in providing the highest level of accuracy required in all circumstances to assist in this very important aspect of the game,” Wray said. “We strongly believe that the Fraunhofer GoalRef technology offers the most practical and cost-effective solution for goal-line technology to be more widely deployed, and also provides us with a stable platform to offer further innovation in the future if the IFAB decide to amend the Laws of the Game to allow the use of additional technology as a support for referees.”

Through this licensing agreement, ChyronHego will bring all the necessary components to the table for GoalRef to be effectively deployed for leagues and tournaments, according to Thomas von der Grün, head of department locating and communication systems at Fraunhofer IIS. “We are especially excited by the opportunities that ChyronHego brings to the table with their graphics technology and video expertise to create visually compelling and intuitive visualization replays. We look forward to working in close cooperation with ChyronHego moving forward on this and other related initiatives.”

Founded in 1985, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, Germany, ranks first among the Fraunhofer Institutes concerning headcount and revenues. Engineering teams at the Fraunhofer IIS are credited with the creation of the mp3 and the co-development of AAC formats.