Day 3 at VivaTech| techUK Delegation to Paris
On Day 3 of VivaTech, techUK and our delegation paid a visit around the stands to see some of techUK’s other members.
techUK member Meta was showcasing some of its most innovative products and services, including the widely known Quest 3 AR headset. Most interestingly, a Meta Engineer showed us their new SeamlessExpressive open-source AI translation model which aims to ensure expressions within speech (vocal style, pitch, volume, emotion, and tone) can be kept when translated in real-time into a different language.
Meta were also demonstrating their Meta-RayBan collaboration on voice-responsive smart glasses with built-in AI which can take photos and videos.
Elsewhere, techUK member Microsoft was demonstrating its Copilot for Microsoft 365 software, designed to be the AI assistant of office workers, the software comes with enterprise-grade security, privacy and compliance. For those that do not know Copilot, the proprietary software, which is based on an LLM, can offer suggested solutions to problems that Microsoft 365 users are facing throughout their working day, increases the level of automation when workers are performing tasks, thus making workers more productive and efficient.
Beyond this, Microsoft was also demonstrating some of its AI services available, including some of the applications available on its Surface tablet or laptop with an neural processing unit (NPU). These services offer typical generative AI functions like summarisation of documents, writing response emails, and as well, the monitoring of supply chain equipment, but Microsoft ensure that consumers can access the benefits of AI locally, meaning that these AI features can be used without connectivity.
Next up, we visited Capgemini, the French technology and consulting company that naturally had a huge presence at Vivatech. We were most impressed with two of their technologies from Capgemini Engineering and Climate Tech. First of all, Capgemeni’s Vision Check is a AR/AI assistant for workers in the industrial sector. The handheld device, which can also be altered for drone technology usage, features space for a smartphone, a light, and a connectivity-creating hotspot antenna. The AR can demonstrate what is broken, why, and how to fix it. A report is then automatically uploaded to a local server so that the company can see what the operator has observed, checked, and fixed.
Capgemini were also displaying their Sim City for Climate technology, aimed at helping city planners and architects to make climate-friendly decisions when building, renovating, or regenerating a city. The software platform, helps city planners by simulating the impact of changing building materials or planting vegetation on each part of a city. The user can see the impact of their decisions not just on the temperature of each part of the simulated city, but also the cost of doing so, and the impact it will have on the climate in terms of CO2 gain/loss.
But this was not the only Capgemini innovation aimed at combatting climate change, Capgemini also demonstrated their ‘Forest Planting Machine, an electric-hydrogen hybrid 4x4 which can plant as many as 1,500 plants a day and has a range of 30-40 kilometres.
Last but not least, we visited techUK member Airbus, a leader in the aviation, transport, and defence sectors, to see how they are innovating to combat climate change. Airbus’ Direct Air Capture hardware is used for transferring tech between the International Space System and the Earth. The system captures CO2 from the journey, and uses it as a fertiliser in agriculture or in the production of climate neutral fuels.
Spotted elsewhere…
The former CEO of techUK member Atos and the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, was speaking with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer on the topic of ‘AI, Media, and the Peril of Democracies’. Mr Breton spoke of the importance of basic digital regulation including the Digital Services Act, and stated that the US should follow Europe’s lead when it comes to tech regulation. Thierry Breton also spoke about the importance of fixing Europe’s capital market, to ensure that innovators in Europe get the funding that they deserve. Mathias spoke of his book ‘The Trade Trap: how to stop doing business with dictators’ which calls for an alliance of democracies that do tariff free trade which accept rule of law, accept human rights, accept climate targets. Mr Dopfner also spoke about the importance of risk-taking behaviour in entrepreneurship, and that Europe should aspire to be more like the United States in this regard.
Venus and Serena Williams were also in Paris, this time around it was not to win on the clay courts of Roland Garros, but to discuss the launch of Shares, a platform which allows retail investors to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies, of which they are both Ambassadors.
If you would like to participate in future delegations, please contact Daniel Clarke or Sabina Ciofu.
Daniel Clarke
Dan joined techUK as a Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade in March 2023.