Four months after Apple launched its long-awaited extended-reality (XR) headset, the Vision Pro is hitting shops in Canada.
Embedded within the gadget is a few know-how that initially got here from the XR firm Vrvana, which was based by Bertrand Nepveu and offered to Apple in 2017.
To perceive XR—an umbrella time period that encompasses augmented actuality, digital actuality, and combined actuality—and its place within the Canadian tech panorama, BetaKit caught up with Nepveu.
The genesis of Vrvana
Before he started his present work investing in media, leisure, and spatial computing at Triptyq, Nepveu labored at Vrvana to create the Totem headset. The firm claimed the product may swap from augmented actuality—visible computing that layers digital parts over the true world, à la Pokemon GO—and immersive video, or digital actuality (VR).
In 2017, after Apple acquired Vrvana for an undisclosed sum, Nepveu joined the staff growing the Vision Pro beneath Mike Rockwell, incorporating a few of Vrvana’s know-how.
Nepveu credit his fascination with XR to video video games. He dreamed about taking part in video games from his youth, like Donkey Kong on the Nineteen Eighties dwelling console ColecoVision, in VR. “For me, it was the ultimate step to go to really fun and immersive games,” he mentioned.
However, it wasn’t till after Nepveu accomplished each his undergraduate diploma in engineering and his MBA that he determined to pursue XR. During his MBA, Nepveu was impressed by the highly effective capabilities of the Xbox 360, which he seen as the very best graphics card available on the market. He realized {that a} console paired with a succesful graphics card may disrupt the area and deliver VR headsets, then a really area of interest marketplace for hobbyists, to the general public.
After this realization, Nepveu approached a couple of of his colleagues at work and requested them “Do you want to try to do a VR asset?” That marked the start of Vrvana.
Overcoming Canadian challenges
While engaged on Vrvana, Nepveu drew inspiration from previous Canadian {hardware} giants similar to Nortel, Matrox, and BlackBerry. These tales helped Nepveu cause that “We can be the best [in Canada] if we want to.”
However, the Canadian market’s inherent threat aversion nonetheless proved tough to navigate. “Being ambitious in the States is an asset. In Canada, it’s almost counterintuitive,” he mentioned, including that investing in {hardware} scared a variety of VCs.
Nepveu responded to Vrvana’s fundraising difficulties by turning to crowdfunding. Kickstarter allowed Nepveu to safe capital whereas additionally testing person curiosity and market validation. This finally helped Nepveu reveal Vrvana’s product-market match to buyers.
Real Ventures ended up taking an opportunity on Nepveu’s enterprise. At the time, Nepveu recollects how Real Ventures was “the only VC [in Canada] that was not afraid of ambitious people.” Nepveu has been an LP in Real Ventures’ fund since 2018.
Totem’s legacy: Apple acquisition and the Vision Pro
Speaking with BetaKit, Nepveu reminisced about his first interplay with Apple in 2016, which led to a full acquisition by the tech behemoth after Vrvana demonstrated the Totem’s capabilities at CES 2017. At the electronics showcase, Nepveu confirmed the Totem to Apple’s Jonathan “Jony” Ive.
According to Nepveu, the Totem was key to growing the Vision Pro. Particularly, the Totem’s low-latency Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) integration and the “reality knob,” which allowed customers to toggle between AR and VR, stood out.
“That was one of the first things they wanted us to patent,” Nepveu defined.
“FPGA is hard,” he continued. “But the good thing is two of my co-founders were doing FPGA. And we hired new people that had that expertise, too. “So that was kind of a superpower we had, what made that Totem so great. We optimized everything so that we had a 12-millisecond latency. And even we did a prototype with Samsung just before the acquisition, and we were at three milliseconds. So we knew that we were able to master the latency.”
The Future of XR in Canada
Nowadays, Nepveu sits on the opposite facet of the desk, investing in XR, digital leisure, and interactive media as a companion at Triptyq Capital in Montréal. Looking ahead, Nepveu speculates there is a chance for Canadian founders to create high-quality merchandise for XR {hardware}.
“If you come up with something very innovative that boosts your productivity or a cool game with the current dynamics, you can … make a fortune because there’s not that many competitors right now,.” he mentioned.
At this 12 months’s WWDC, Apple unveiled new instruments for builders trying to create apps for the Vision Pro via its new working software program: visionOS 2.
Nepveu additionally highlighted the function Triptyq’s portfolio firm, ShapesXR, is taking part in in serving to builders prototype and take a look at shortly, calling the corporate a “big enabler.” In a weblog put up on Medium, Triptyq speculated that Quebec’s wealthy XR-fluent expertise pool may benefit ShapesXR.
Feature picture courtesy Bertrand Nepveu.
