Bertrand Nepveu

Bertrand Nepveu
Nepveu in 2017
Born	Bertrand Nepveu
Citizenship	Canada
Education	Université de Sherbrooke (B.Eng.) HEC Montréal (MBA)
Occupations	Entrepreneur Engineer Venture capitalist
Years active	2005–present
Known for	Founder of Vrvana Contributor to Apple Vision Pro Co-founder of Triptyq Capital

Bertrand Nepveu (/ˈnɛvjuː/) is a Canadian entrepreneur, engineer, and venture capitalist who has worked in mixed reality (MR) and spatial computing. He founded Vrvana, which developed augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies. After Apple acquired Vrvana in 2017, Nepveu worked on the Apple Vision Pro project.

Early Life and Education

Nepveu's grandfather, Ernest, was the founder of LAVO, which manufactured the La Parisienne bleach brand. In interviews, Nepveu has discussed his early interest in technology, including experiences with video games and systems like the ColecoVision console. According to Nepveu, these early experiences influenced his later work in virtual reality technology. He completed a degree in Computer Engineering at Université de Sherbrooke and an MBA at HEC Montréal.

Career

Vrvana (2005–2017)

Nepveu founded Vrvana, initially named True Player Gear, in 2005. The company developed the Totem, a mixed reality headset that could switch between AR and VR modes.

The Vrvana Totem mixed reality headset with its front cameras for pass-through AR and VR capabilities.

The Totem headset included these technical specifications:

• Pass-Through Cameras: Dual 1440p QHD RGB cameras operating at 75Hz
• Tracking Cameras: Infrared 720p HD mono cameras at 60Hz for spatial tracking
• Processing: Custom FPGA for mixed reality processing
• Display: 1440p QHD OLED screens with 75Hz refresh rate (90Hz possible)
• Lens: Fresnel and aspherical compound lenses
• Field of View: 120°
• Adjustments: Interpupillary distance (55mm-72mm) and tilt angle (0°-10°)
• Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2a, USB 3.0, 3.5mm audio, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11n
• Software Support: Unity, Unreal Engine, and OpenVR/SteamVR compatibility

In 2014, Vrvana launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Totem headset, raising $100,000 on its first day. The campaign faced challenges after Oculus announced its CV1 headset. The company later shifted focus to enterprise applications, working with clients including Tesla, Valve, and Audi.

Acquisition by Apple

The Vrvana Totem mixed reality headset with its dual RGB cameras and infrared tracking system.

In November 2017, Apple acquired Vrvana for $30 million. The acquisition included the company's technology and personnel, with Nepveu joining Apple's Technology Development Group (TDG). Industry publications reported that Vrvana's work in passthrough AR and hand tracking technologies influenced Apple's decision.

Work at Apple (2017–2021)

The Apple Vision Pro, which incorporated technical approaches developed at Vrvana.

At Apple, Nepveu worked on several aspects of the Vision Pro project:

Point of View Correction

Nepveu and his team developed solutions for the misalignment between camera positions and user eye position. He explained the technical challenge: "Point of view correction...is like, you capture the world through the cameras. But the cameras, unfortunately, are not where your eyes are. So there's a distance there. And if you don't correct it, you just get sick because your brain...the world is not behaving like I'm used to. So you need to compensate for that."

Low-Latency Passthrough Technology

The team worked on reducing system latency. According to Nepveu: "We optimized everything so that we had a 12-millisecond latency...we knew that we were able to master the latency."

Reality Interface

The development included methods for transitioning between AR and VR modes, building on concepts similar to Vrvana's "reality knob" interface. Nepveu noted: "The 'reality knob' allowed users to toggle between AR and VR...that was one of the first things they wanted us to patent."

Technical Implementation

The team used Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for processing mixed reality applications. Nepveu stated: "FPGA is hard...but the good thing is two of my co-founders were doing FPGA. And we hired new people that had that expertise, too."

Triptyq Capital (2021–present)

In 2021, Nepveu co-founded Triptyq Capital, a Montreal-based venture capital firm focusing on early-stage investments in digital entertainment and interactive media technology.

The firm has invested in several companies:

• ShapesXR: A platform for designing and prototyping immersive environments
• CubicSpace: A company developing 3D spatial visualization tools that received $1.5M in pre-seed funding
• Squido Studio: A VR game development studio that received CAD 3.7 million in seed funding from Triptyq Capital
• Anomaly Games: A developer of AI-integrated games that received $1.45 million in pre-seed funding

Nepveu serves on the advisory committee of Bouthillier Capital, a family fund that focuses on investment strategies.