Nomad3D chooses the Côte d’Azur to speed up its development

The French start-up Nomad3D aims to speed up its development in the field of
3D video streaming on mobile devices

A project originally identified by Team Côte d’Azur which, in 2010 sent it to the Paca-Est incubator to receive assistance and financial support, since August 2011 Nomad3D has been established at the Nice incubator dedicated to eco-businesses.

This French start-up, which brings together partners based in Sophia Antipolis, Munich and Zurich, wanted a location in France, a choice supported by the assistance given to it by Team Côte d’Azur. Specialising in 3D video streaming, it is aiming for a commercial development in France in early 2012, followed very quickly by Europe, then the United States and Asia.

A new base within the "mobility" ecosystem

After making their decision with Team Côte d’Azur, Alain Fogel, Eric Labarre and Marc Pollefeys, the founders of Nomad3D set up in the Nice Côte d’Azur incubator in August 2011, supported financially and strategically by the Paca-Est incubator.

"That enabled us to be involved in the process around energy saving" say the three founders.
The current Nomad3D team has nine specialists in image and signal processing, embedded software and microelectronics, including an internationally renowned specialist in 3D, Professor Pollefeys from ETH Zurich.

The Nice-Sophia Antipolis environment, a leading region in microelectronic developments, embedded systems and algorithm development, facilitates:

• access for its R&D team to the necessary expertise to develop their technologies and products
• partnerships with research establishments (CNRS, INRIA, EURECOM) and global manufacturers in the application processors field
• the recruitment of highly-qualified personnel

"The strategic and financial support from the Paca-Est incubator has enabled us to speed up the company's development while limiting the inherent risks". Eric Labarre, Alain Fogel and Marc Pollefeys, founders of Nomad3D

Our location in the region was facilitated by a rapid mobilisation of the Sophia Antipolis ecosystem and by demonstrating the "showcase" role that the Côte d'Azur based technology park can play during international events. "So, we have been able to participate in international trade shows such as the Mobile World Congress 2011, by joining in the promotion of the region conducted by Team Côte d’Azur, making it easier to meet local microelectronics companies", explain Eric Labarre and Alain Fogel.

"The contacts established through Team Côte d'Azur have even enabled us to improve our network in the United States, at the highest level." Eric Labarre, Alain Fogel and Marc Pollefeys, founders of Nomad3D

Nomad3D embeds 3D without glasses on smartphones and tablets
The start-up has developed a solution that is not as power intensive (energy consumption halved) through which the manufacturers of devices and content providers can offer 3D video streaming, without the need to wear glasses. Technology which relies on two elements a video codec called 3D+F compatible with all existing compression formats (asymetrical CODEC technology which mainly targets S3D) by implementing software on an application processor in the smartphone or tablet fitted with an autostereoscopic 3D compatible screen. The products' market penetration will be facilitated by the Nomad3D CODEC, a unique, low-energy software solution.
Publishers and content distributors (operators, WebTV, CloudTV...) can use the 3D+F codec (SaaS) to convert their videos that will be stored online for VoD. They can then offer 3D video streaming to their customers with a compatible 3D device, which is low-energy thanks to Nomad3D.

Strategic partnerships to continue its development
Nomad3D takes full advantage of the Côte d’Azur ecosystem by joining forces with expert partners in the "mobility" fields:

• the CIM-PACA platform
• the SCS cluster (which will enable them to be present at the Mobile World Congress 2012)
• the Telecom Valley association (working groups around telecoms and mobile)

Nomad3D is also considering PhD research partnerships with the following establishments: the Polytech Nice school, EURECOM, LEAT-CNRS, INRIA, the CampusID-IEID school, EDHEC, etc.

It is aiming for a fast global development across Europe, the United States and Asia.

In order to cover the United States market in particular, the start-up has established contacts in Sunnyvale in California. It was in fact selected during the RETIS 2011 competition to be accommodated at the Plug and Play Tech Center incubator for three months. It was able to follow the "Accelerator" programme until 20th December and attend many conferences with mobile platform organisations.

This commitment to development naturally leads to recruitment needs: "we want to become a team of around 20 people within eighteen months," state the three founders. "we are looking for people with very high-level technical qualifications (engineers or doctors in microelectronics, embedded systems, video algorithms) but also for marketing roles".

THE COTE D’AZUR: A STRONG INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DEDICATED TO MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

• Over 30,000 highly qualified individuals
• A scientific centre (CREMANT*, CNRS, INRIA, Orange Labs) backed by an important microelectronics industry (Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies, Intel, ST-Ericsson, Gemalto, ASK, ARM) and young innovative companies (Insight SiP, 3Roam, Trusted Labs).
• 7 engineering schools including the Ecole Polytech’Nice Sophia, the engineering program at Nice-Sophia Antipolis University or even Eurecom which in 2012 will be brought together on the future STIC Campus (foundation stone laid in December 2009).
• International standards bodies: the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
• A world-wide competitiveness cluster (SCS) covering the entire value chain from silicon to its uses and coordinating many research projects.
• Collaborative R&D platforms for pooling skills and tools.
• Strong assistance and support for innovation through the PACA-Est, TELECOM ParisTech EURECOM, the Sophia Antipolis Foundation, Antipolis Innovation Campus incubators.

* Low Energy
** Shared laboratory between Nice-Sophia Antipolis University, the CNRS and Orange Labs

En savoir plus : www.nomad3d.com