At some point, we’ve all felt like it’s difficult to keep up with the pace and demands of modern life. We find ourselves constantly working, exercising, socialising, texting or cleaning – without much time in between for relaxing. That’s why we’re always searching for ways to make life more convenient.

But that’s how technology can help. A system which could save time, energy, money and worry would enable people to dedicate their efforts to the more important things in life.

That’s why French start-up company Vivoka is introducing Zac – a new holographic home butler.

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Zac to the rescue

A hologram assistant in the shape of a raccoon, Zac is designed so people can control their entire home using just their voice; including anything from lighting, blinds and entertainment through to security and heating.

That means with Zac you won’t need remote controls, applications or boxes to control your connected devices – you just interact with them via one intuitive and simple user interface.

The technology can secure a property by interacting remotely with alarms, cameras, sirens and motion detectors, as well as save energy through measuring the energy consumption of each connected device and predicting electricity bills. The system can even create a new scenario to save energy, such as turning the light off and heat down when someone’s no longer in a room. To top it all off, Zac will notify you when the battery runs low or if there’s a malfunction, and even turns the kettle on for you.

Zac can even help to transform the way people with reduced mobility live – giving them added independence by effortlessly allowing them to control their home with voice command.

Taking on the world

Vivoka’s CEO and co-founder William Simonin set up the company in Metz along with a group of his friends three years ago, and the business has been growing ever since. Their vision is to create the best artificial intelligence assistant in the world.

Inspired by the J.A.R.V.I.S. computing system (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) in Marvel’s Iron Man, the team at Vivoka created Zac as a raccoon mascot to make him friendlier for consumers who invite him into their homes.

In January 2018, Vivoka attended the Consumer Technology Association (CES) event in Las Vegas, US, to show Zac to the world. The CES exhibition is a global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. It’s an event for people who thrive on consumer technologies and has served as a platform for innovators and breakthrough technologies for 50 years.

We’re passionate about backing start-up companies – so we offered our support to help Vivoka showcase this new technology at CES. One week at the event created more leads for Zac than in the past year.

“As customers of RS, they’ve helped us at various stages of Zac’s creation,” explains William. “Every bad decision can cost time and money, so having a partnership with RS and the benefit of their technical support helps us make good decisions for prototyping and industry relations.”

When can we meet Zac?

Vivoka has spent the past three years creating this technology, progressing from the concept stage to the prototype it is today – but Zac is still being developed.

“One of our ambitions is to advance Zac for use in hotels,” says William. “This could enable Zac to do translations for people who speak different languages, to perform tasks such as ordering a taxi or finding a restaurant.”

While Zac isn’t available on the market just yet, the system is close to being ready and Vivoka hopes to launch it soon.

Watch the video to see Zac in action and hear William explain the background of the invention. Learn more about Vivoka by visiting the website.