VivaTech: these start-ups want to make your life at work easier

A connected insulation to reduce noise pollution, a window for talking with your colleagues in Nantes, or an ultra-digital meeting booth that does not occupy more than 5m², you have dreamed of it ... or you have never had one. idea?

However, these are some of the innovations, already very real, that French start-ups have developed and which will be presented, some of them exclusively, at the VivaTech trade fair.

Among the themes in the spotlight this year, office life takes pride of place.

We have selected seven novelties.

You will be able to discover many others during the largest European Tech event organized by the Les Échos - Le Parisien and Publicis Groupe group.

Meet from June 16 to 19 (the day of the 19 is open to the general public) at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center, in Paris (15th century) and online.

Psytech

Semaxone assesses your stress

Some workstations cannot tolerate a single second of inattention and generate significant stress. To prevent the professionals who employ them from exposing themselves to danger or endangering others, the start-up Semaxone has developed artificial intelligence. This analyzes and assesses their physiological and psychological state. “A forehead sensor measures brain activity and heart rate, while a microphone records voice,” explains Guilhem Belda, one of the three designers of this technology.

Semaxone was created at the end of 2018 thanks to the support of Bpifrance and the IMT Mines incubator in Alès (Gard), in partnership with the Laboratoire Informatique d'Avignon (Vaucluse) and the Euromov DHM research unit in Montpellier (Hérault) .

“We measure the level of concentration and cognitive load, in work environments where you have to react very quickly,” adds Guilhem Belda.

Smart sensors have been tested for aeronautics, from the air traffic controller to the airline pilot, but also the medical sector where surgeons, for example, have to stay focused for long hours.

They may also be of interest to nuclear power.

Ipesland coaches you with virtual reality

A virtual reality headset, video game controllers and a carefully thought-out scenario.

These are the tools of Ipesland, an immersive coaching method designed from start to finish by Laurence Descamps, fascinated by psycho-cognitive methods and formerly a coach for business leaders.

Just marketed, its concept is aimed at executives of large groups and mid-sized companies to "strengthen their self-esteem and their leadership."

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Laurence Descamps, founder of Ipesland, tests her immersive coaching game in virtual reality.

Arnaud Journois

For 25 minutes, alone in a room and seated in an armchair, the employee plunges into a dreamlike setting: sea, rocks, sound of waves, birdsong and fox, inspired by the Little Prince of Saint-Exupéry.

It is he who guides the user through breathing exercises, questions him about his state of mind ... To be effective, the experience must be repeated twice a week for two months, with new steps to be taken. To progress.

Hybrid, the method is also based on online interviews with a coach.

This immersive approach aims to help you feel your emotions, learn to manage them and regain your balance for yourself and your relationship with others, “much more than with an application”.

Suggested price: 6,600 euros for 3 users.

Decreasing beyond.

Management

Mapandmatch maps your skills

“Organize or decide, what do you prefer? Here is an example of the dilemma posed by this platform through two ten-minute questionnaires developed by a CNRS researcher, Chantal Gensse, and an entrepreneur, Margaux Grisard, who created Mapandmatch in 2015. From there, an algorithm maps out what the employee enjoys doing at work, regardless of their technical skills. He is creative and finisher, the other is a connector ... Where a third, on the other hand, doesn't like to decide ...

Useful data for a manager who would like to build the optimal team for a given project.

"It's a new reading of employee commitments," comments Fazila Rialland, general manager of this software publisher.

Sold to companies in the form of a subscription (between 3 and 7 euros per month per employee), the platform is also used to combine talents to know the collective dynamic, while helping to understand and repair the dysfunctions within a team.

Hey Axel assists the supervisors

The backbone of a company and partly responsible for the quality of the working environment of their employees, managers have a high mental load. Also, Hey Axel's mission is to play virtual assistants to save them time. Before the arrival of a new employee, Axel asks the manager to assign him a mentor, think about training sessions and appointments useful for his integration ... before scheduling them in the calendar of those concerned.

Thought to be the "armed wing of human resources" by automating certain tasks, Alex also takes control of the preparation of recurring meetings: planning, points to be dealt with ... Finally, he asks employees about their level of well-being, workload and informs the manager so that he can correct the situation.

The advantage of this application sold since 2018 to Engie, Air Liquide and other Veolia is to be directly integrated into Slack or Teams platforms.

It costs 1.70 euro per month per user.

Living environment

Vibiscus reduces nuisance

Controlling noise will be a key part of returning to the office.

To reduce noise pollution, very bulky absorbent materials or headphones are used (in radio studios, for example) to mask ambient noise.

The start-up Vibiscus, from the CNRS in Besançon (Doubs), offers another solution, with an intelligent insulating material 3 or 4 centimeters thick.

Its plates, covered with small membranes, change their arrangement as needed.

"We can modify the properties of the surface, so that it absorbs noise as well as a meter of foam, and thus change the acoustics of a room at will," explains the co-founder, Gaël Matten.

Gaël Matten is the president and co-founder of Vibiscus.

FEMTO-ST S. QUARROZ

The connected insulation developed by the start-up is for the moment intended to equip the ventilation ducts of the premises, in order to reduce the noise of the devices.

In the longer term, it can be used on office dividers.

Employees will be able to directly control from their smartphone, via an application, the level of sound absorption desired, depending on whether they wish to concentrate or talk with their colleagues.

La Vitre transports you from a distance

Does your company have offices in several cities?

Would you like to be able to exchange with those colleagues whom you never see elsewhere than by videoconference, as if they were next to you?

Link your workspaces?

With the Glass, it is possible and even very simple.

This "teletransportation" device passes through two screens the size of a full-length mirror, to which cameras, microphones, software and a box are connected.

Thanks to the wide viewing angle, you can see your colleagues busy in their premises.

Romuald Boulanger and Anthony Vannier, co-founders of La Vitre.

LP / Delphine Goldsztejn

Want to start a conversation?

A “knock knock” on the touch screen, or a handwritten word, “dispo?

", here we go.

If your interlocutor approaches, he stands in front of you but you continue to "feel the atmosphere of his open space", summarize the co-founders Romuald Boulanger and Anthony Vannier.

No need to raise your voice to be heard.

Above all, the Glass incorporates particularly impressive collaborative features: the ability to display the content of your phone on the screen, to move it around as you wish by annotating it, simultaneous access to content applications, "live" translation of the words. in about sixty languages… Price of this concentrate of technologies?

199 euros per month, plus the cost of the screen (from 1,250 euros to over 7,000 euros).

Hybridity transforms your meetings

It's one of the best-kept surprises in the show.

After its "board" unveiled last summer, the French start-up Klaxoon reserves for VivaTech the scoop of a new device which promises to "completely transform the way of meeting", as summarized by Matthieu Beucher, its president.

Indeed, Hybridity has something to seduce, especially in companies that have adopted the flex office.

This small removable hall resembling a marquee occupies no more than 5 m².

It includes 3 high definition touch screens, equipped with webcams.

There are three people there, sitting or standing.

Immersed and cut off from the outdoor open space, you can find your way around in project mode, or to interact with remote teams.

Hybridity, Klaxoon's meeting booth, will be presented exclusively at the VivaTech trade fair, from June 16 to 19, at Porte de Versailles, in Paris (15th century).

DR

In wood, metal and fabric structure, Hybridity is available for hire from 2000 euros per month. You can of course use the entire range of Klaxoon tools there, which is enhanced by a new “Hybrid” interface, also unveiled at VivaTech. On this new shared dashboard, users will be able to meet in videoconference with up to 50 or even 250 participants, and intervene at the same time on all types of files (PDF or PowerPoint in particular). The Rennes success story is therefore far from over.