A revolutionary tablet allows people with visual disabilities to experience the emotion of stadiums

Ninety-third minute of play at the Parc des Princes, Paris: foul in the penalty area. Trailing 3 goals to 2 by Spain, the French football team obtained an unexpected penalty in the final moments of this Olympic final. In the stands, the 48,000 spectators hold their breath. Among them, Ludovic, a pair of headphones in his ears and a touchscreen tablet in the shape of a miniature football field on his knees. The referee whistles, the Blues striker rushes, and here is the equalizer. Euphoria in the stadium. Ludovic participates in the general craze with his 16-year-old son. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, he did not see the ball land in the back of the net but thanks to the Touch2See device, he experienced this moment with the same intensity.

The principle? A cursor indicates the position of the ball in real time on the tablet, vibrations translate the intensity of the game (fouls, goals, chances, altercations, etc.) and an automatic audio description comments on the match live. “Its operation is based on two elements: artificial intelligence which analyzes the data that we collect from sports leagues and a 5G connection for transmission speed,” explains Arthur Chazelle, its creator and founder of the company Touch2See. Result: the latency time between the field and the tablet is only 150 milliseconds.

Vibrate in the stadiums with loved ones

Thanks to this technology, Ludovic was able to share the meeting from start to finish with his son, in complete autonomy. A unique experience. “It’s been years since I last saw a football on TV or on the sidelines of a pitch due to my disability, but the sport continues to fascinate me,” confides this 46-year-old father. who got into the habit of listening to the matches on the radio. “This tablet will never replace sight with colors, but I am experiencing an Olympic final, at the stadium, with my son with my senses alert. »

Developed since 2022 by the Toulouse start-up, this connected equipment is gradually spreading to stadiums in France, in Toulouse, in Lyon, etc. Users do not have to pay anything. The technology supports “handicap” places sold by Ligue 1 or Top 14 clubs – two leagues that are already partners.

This summer, it was also tested at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as part of an official partnership. Around a hundred blind or visually impaired people were able to attend, like Ludovic, the football matches hosted at the Parc des Princes, the rugby sevens tournament within the Stade de France, as well as the basketball final stages organized at the Accor Arena in Bercy.

“Integrating blind people also means allowing them to experience this kind of moment with their loved ones,” emphasizes Alexandre Bediguian, the start-up’s marketing manager. The sensation of touch allows them to imagine the spacing of the pitch, to know where the ball is, to project themselves into the match without feeling excluded. »

Thanks to the partnership established with the National Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired (Unadev), Christophe, 48, was able to experience the effectiveness of the system at the beginning of the year, during a women’s football match in Lyon ( Rhône). “With the tablet, we don’t have to have a sighted person next to us to describe the actions to us one after the other. » A luxury that Christophe would like to share with as many people as possible.

Huge potential to make sporting events more inclusive

There is still a way to go. In our country, 1.7 million people have a vision problem. But according to Touch2See, only 3% of stadiums in France offer an audio description service. The development potential is enormous. Clubs and sports federations still need to play the game. Because the young company equips stadiums, not individuals.

“The real revolution for us, blind people, would be for all major stadiums in France to be equipped so that visual impairment becomes part of the customs of the sporting world,” believes this Olympique Lyonnais fan. Welcoming us should no longer be something exceptional. » After having embraced the Paralympic culture, France must still open up to paraspectors.