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and product management. From this, I took the jump into starting VividQ. In my history as CEO I've done everything from writing code to hiring, financial modelling, van driving and coffee making. If it needs doing, we just do it. Of course, I'm supported in all this by our COO, Aleksandra Pedraszewska, our CTO Andrzej Kaczorowski and CDO (chief development officer) Tom Durrant. Now that the company has grown to over 30 people with several high- profile international customers, I find myself doing a lot of project and people management now. What makes the company unique? Obviously, the technology is really cool. It's the kind of once-in-a-generation idea that I believe has the potential to make us one of the next big tech giants. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that we are on the verge of a revolution in display technology. The move from 2D to real 3D will be as dramatic as the introduction of the first television, and VividQ is providing a vital piece of the puzzle. In addition, we have a very special company culture that prizes a scientific-style rigour in all our decision- making. We value the notion that no idea is above critique, regardless of who it came from. This has allowed us to create a very open, honest and productive environment that our technical staff love, as it means they can always air ideas (or object to mine), knowing they will be listened to and their ideas taken seriously and thoroughly considered. Biggest achievement so far? Back in 2018, when we had a very first cut of our software and early hardware prototype systems, we were still able to deploy working systems with two large customers. This was an amazing piece of work by our teams, requiring exquisite coordination between our technical and commercial teams. Of course, there was a high degree of uncertainty and technical risk, but we came through it extremely well, impressed the customers and laid the groundwork for our current commercial engagements. Biggest challenges? Actually, one of the biggest issues we've encountered is more of a marketing problem rather than technical. The word ‘holography’ is somewhat abused, especially in the augmented reality and entertainment space. It has become synonymous with pretty much any
Obviously, the technology is really cool. It's the kind of once-in-a-generation idea that I believe has the potential to make us one of the next big tech giants" of Cambridge. From the start, we had a good mix of holographic and optical engineers, computer scientists, physicists and commercial people. After our initial breakthrough in holographic display algorithms, we quickly obtained funding from UK and US angels, which allowed us to build out a minimum viable product. Just last year we secured our first institutional funding from venture capitalists based in the UK, Germany and Japan, which is allowing us to accelerate our development and commercial engagements and bring holographic display to the market even faster. What’s your role and background? I am a co-founder and CEO of VividQ. My background was originally in theoretical physics. I completed a PhD in Quantum Information Theory at the University of St Andrews in 2012, but I left academia shortly after and worked for a couple of software companies. There, I learnt the essentials of software development
ABOVE (Left to right) CTO Andrzej
technology that overlays an image on the real world. We are compared to illusions like the Tupac ‘hologram’, despite this just being a 2D reflection on a piece of glass, or the images created in devices like Microsoft Hololens, which are just 2D images in a waveguide. The real holographic display that VividQ enables is totally new, has not hit the market yet and provides an experience to users that goes far beyond these current technologies. However, it can be tricky to explain the value of our technology when, in some people's minds, something like it already exists. Which individuals or companies are your biggest inspirations? In terms of companies, I think Arm is an excellent proxy for VividQ. A Cambridge-based deep tech company with a technology that can be used across hundreds of different types of devices. In some ways, we have modelled our future growth in line with the huge success that Arm has achieved. As for people, I would have to say that I am most inspired by the team around me. We have genuinely brought together some of the most intelligent, dedicated and interesting people I have ever known. Where do you want the business to be in five years? Within five years, we will have released millions of holographic display devices to consumers with our OEM partners and VividQ's name will stand as the standard of excellence for display technology. We will be funding research into next- generation projects, allowing us to expand our applications and be well on the road to becoming a tech giant. Find out more about VividQ at vivid-q.com
Kaczorowski, CEO Darran Milne and COO Aleksandra Pedraszewska
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ISSUE 06
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