HISTORY OF REALVIZ®
By: Liz Tjostolvsen

Founded in March 1998 in Sophia Antipolis (Southern France), and based on technological research conducted by INRIA (the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation - www.inria.fr), REALVIZ® develops and markets a portfolio of image processing software products, which enable the production of 2D and 3D digital content for the film, broadcast, gaming, digital imaging, architecture and Internet communities.

The initial research work for the REALVIZ products was conducted at INRIA within the ROBOTVIS research group, lead by Olivier Faugeras (member of the French Academy of Sciences).

Luc Robert, Chief Technology Officer at REALVIZ, and one of the founders of the company joined INRIA as a research scientist in 1995, where he developed algorithms and systems for image-based modeling, image-based rendering and camera tracking. Since March 1998 Robert has headed the technical development of the REALVIZ product portfolio.

“The goal of the ROBOTVIS Computer Vision lab was to understand how vision works on live beings, and simulate it on robotic systems,” explains Robert.

Since its creation in March 1998, REALVIZ has used this technology as the core of its products, firstly through a licensing agreement, then by acquisition.