As part of Spark Lab's ongoing series to spotlight successful European technology companies in New York, this month we profile Vectuel, France’s first all-in-one editor, integrator and producer of 3D data.
Who are the creators/founders?
Vectuel US is founded and managed by Claire and Clement, a duo of civil engineers turned urban planner and technologist, respectively.
Our parent company and strongest supporter, Vectuel France, was started by Gregory Morlet, an architect who studied video game design, and Fabrice Simondi and Benoit Serceau, two French serial entrepreneurs.
What inspired the idea and concept?
Vectuel’s mission is to help people make more informed decisions about urban development in their cities. So we enable people to explore the future of the city!
We create interactive and visual solutions to simplify communication on urban development projects. We create the 3D assets, design the interactions, and curate technologies and platforms to deploy ready-to-use software that speaks to our clients’ specific audience.
Our goal has always been to make the urban development process more visual and interactive for the public. There are amazing rendering technologies coming from the video game industry, and we feel we have barely scratched the surface of how they can apply to serious applications.
What sets this apart from the competition?
Contrary to most architectural rendering studios and firms, Vectuel focuses on the interaction between the user – the player – and the application.
In order to generate buy-in and build consensus in today’s world, one needs far more than beautiful yet simple renderings. People want to play and interact with their environment! When it comes to urban projects, we believe that the public needs to experience the project to truly engage. So we build serious exploration applications and games!
Our biggest differences from our competition is that we use video game engines to build and represent cities digitally, creating an immersive experience for our users. We also integrate many of the practices in urban design through our multidisciplinary team allying real estate and urban planning experts, as well as an amazing experienced tech team.
What's this company's next big announcement?
We recently announced a collaboration with the Meatpacking District to show what it will look like after all the construction is finished. We are also participating in the Neighborhood Challenge with a couple other Business Improvement Districts, more to come after the end of the competition.
What Spark location are you currently using?
We use the Bryant Park location for our demo space: we have installed a large 55" tactile table in the lounge, as well as a Virtual Reality setup. That is where we take our clients to show them our latest work.
Why did you decide on NYC for market entry/validation?
New York is the gravitational center of the global real estate market, and the tech ecosystem is thriving here, in particular in the field of Virtual Reality.
What do you feel is next for the tech ecosystem here in NYC?
NYC is becoming a leader in urban tech. There is a reason why a visionary companies like Foursquare were started here, and why a key player like Google chose New York to establish its urban branch Sidewalk Labs. All the ingredients are here. Urban tech is the future of New York!
