PRESS KIT MAY 2017 Minuit Une, a French start-up company founded by 3 entrepreneurs and physics engineers (graduates from the Institut d Optique) produces next generation lightings for shows, which reinvent the use of laser for concerts, events and broadcasts. The IVL lighting (Immersive and Versatile Laser lighting) is developed and produced in France. It is a 360 patented lighting technology, based on very specific laser, which is both immersive and versatile. It allows the transition from laser to a new type of light source: multimodal, safe and 0% DMX controlled (the standard lighting language in entertainment). After 3 years of research and development, in 2016 Minuit Une began to market its first units and immediately attracted the attention of stage designers from all backgrounds. Their product comes in two interchangeable shapes (Pyramide and Carré), providing diverse uses and an innovative way to dress up the stage. Minuit Une s products were at Printemps de Bourges, the Weather Festival and Solidays. They are also on tour with Philipp Poisel (Germany), Epica (Netherlands), Patricia Kaas, Møme, Pfel & Greem (C2C), Broken Back... Press contact: Eric Labbé / e.labbe@minuitune.fr / + 33 6 09 63 52 65 www.minuitune.fr / facebook.com/minuitune / @MinuitUneFr
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 2/ Table of contents Table of contents... 2 IVL lighting... 3 A 360 immersive light An «instrument of light» No need to hide the light source The simplest laser in the world... 5 A renewed laser technology An unprecedented eye safety (Finally) a handling in accordance with business standards An innovation with a lot of values... 7 Pleasure, ingenuity, creativity French Tech innovation and Made in France quality Cost effective and green A wide and international market... 9 An infinity of usages for a wide range of sectors A market that is international by nature Future evolutions fueled by the passion for creativity A video summary...
IVL lighting A 360 immersive light Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 3/ The IVL lighting by Minuit Une isn t a projector with a light going from point A to point B. The Minuit Une light has the specificity to be emitted as a 360 light plan that matches the total volume of the space from a square-shaped (M-Carré) or a pyramid-shaped (M-Pyramide) object. This particularity provides a very powerful immersive dimension to this light, resulting in a feeling of being at the heart of the light and in the surprising pattern of the audience trying to «catch» rays. Furthermore, this singular geometry allows the stage-designers to use it as a link between artists and audience, by creating beams that include the stage and the rest of the venue. An «instrument of light» The basic idea for the design of our systems is to develop a machine with such variety of possibilities that it allows each light-designer to use it in its own way, just as an instrument is never played exactly the same by two different musicians.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 4/ Minuit Une s light is very graphic (because of the laser s precision) but also rich in possibilities with its DMX control. With a system of tilts and gobos, the IVL lighting allows the creation of 1 to 64 beams with different sizes, orientations, rotations and colours (up to 3 RGB colours). The inherent possibilities of a single unit are therefore in no way similar to a classic automatic moving light, which has to be associated with other products to dress up a stage-design. No need to hide the light source The IVL lighting devices have not been designed to be hidden. With their shape (square or pyramid), they becomes an element that can easily be integrated into the stage design. They can either be hooked on the front or the back of the stage, hung upside down, or even placed on the floor. Grouped into racks, several M-Carré or M-Pyramide can generate other shapes without any limit: walls, cubes, circles, spheres etc., with a multiplier effect of course.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 5/ The simplest laser in the world A renewed laser technology Stage-designers have been using laser lighting for 30 years but it has always been restricted to big events, mostly outdoors, for safety and handling reasons. Until now, a producer who wanted to use laser had to follow specific security procedures, involve a technician specialized in lasers using dedicated software controls, and ask for special authorizations. IVL lighting technology shakes up all of this. An unprecedented eye safety If laser lighting was so complicated to implement until now, it was for a crucial reason: laser is a dangerous light. Some industries use it to cut metal plates so it sounds reasonable to regulate its use for public events with high precautions. But, while classical laser lighting could potentially burn the eyes of a spectator (that s why they are usually used above the audience), the IVL lighting is significantly softened by an exclusive and patented device. While standard lasers have a minimal safety distance of several hundred meters, it s only 3 meters for IVL lighting. So it allows for a free scanning of the audience with beams.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 6/ (Finally) a handling in accordance with business standards The second disruptive innovation of IVL lighting is the fact that it can be entirely controlled by the DMX protocol, which is the standard for all stage lightings. In other words, a lighting operator can control these devices on itself, with the same console as for other lights, without assistance from any specialized technician or dedicated software. To this day, Minuit Une s IVL lighting is the only laser in the world that can be so easily handled.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 7/ An innovation with a lot of values Pleasure, ingenuity, creativity Pleasure: it is at the heart of our business. We cannot imagine entertainment, shows and events without pleasure. At Minuit Une, we want this pleasure to be shared from the audience s point of view, but also from the artist s and stage-designer s who conceive the show. Creativity: it is by placing the creativity at the heart of our approach that we can consider our concepts as innovative, in terms of both product design and usage. Furthermore, an unlimited source of reflexion for our engineers is visual and digital arts researches. Ingenuity: it is the point at which engineering become creative and, conversely, at which creativity becomes reliable. This is precisely where the concepts of Minuit Une are placed: the high speed rotation system of our laser source allows us to create a fully immersive 360 light and at the same time strongly reduces the laser s dangerousness.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 8/ French Tech innovation and Made in France quality Minuit Une stage lightings are a pure product of the very dynamic French Tech. Born at the «Engineer - Entrepreneur Course» of the Institut d Optique Graduate School, which backed it up for the patenting process, the company was later welcomed within the 4 Factory, the CENTQUATRE arts center incubator, where the team was able to continue its R&D activities while being helped by funds from the BPI (Public Invest Bank) and Scientipôle. Now based at the Atrium, another business incubator of Est Ensemble, the company recently won a Grand Prix de l Innovation de la Ville de Paris award for «Cultural, creative and digital industries». By both conviction and will to place its product in the high range category, Minuit Une has decided to locate its industrial production in France (even if some components come from Germany or Switzerland). In partnership with Creative Eurecom, an industrial manufacturer specialized in medical technologies, Minuit Une made the choice to focus on precision and reliability. Cost effective and green A single machine by Minuit Une can generate a wide variety of effects, similar to a large set of moving lights with each one their specificities. But that s where the similarity ends because the IVL lighting is far less expensive, easier to move and to set up. In many cases, in addition to being the most spectacular option, Minuit Une is also a wise economic choice for events producers. Finally, it should be pointed out that lasers are an energy-saving source of light. With a power range of 150W, Minuit Une s devices consume significantly less energy than an equivalent LED or classic moving light.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page 9/ A wide and international market An infinity of usages for a wide range of sectors Concerts and nightclubs were the first sectors to pay attention to Minuit Une s products but it is yet interesting to note that they come from all kinds of musical trends: from electronic music to pop music, including different rock or groove trends. But today, professionals from all backgrounds are starting to request them: event agencies, brands, audio-visual productions, digital arts festivals and contemporary arts centres. A market that is international by nature There is no local manufacturer for stage lighting! This market is entirely globalized and has always been so. What is new, however, is how fast videos circulate today with the growth of social networks. During the first year of commercialization for their products (2016), 50% of the sales were for export, almost always after a new video broadcast: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, and Singapore. Some of the new markets that are now opening (South-East Asia, Middle-East, and North America) represent high-level opportunities.
Minuit Une - Dossier de Presse 2017 - Page / Future evolutions fueled by the passion for creativity Minuit Une is at the very beginning of its story, they are eager to adapt their technology to many different products. Its engineers are also very attentive to the needs and wishes of performing arts professionals, they also do a lot of research in visual and digital arts. No spoilers, but we can already say that a dozen of developments projects are in the engineers pipelines for the next 3 years. A video summary Click on the picture below to access online our «best of» video. Press contact: Eric Labbé / e.labbe@minuitune.fr / + 33 6 09 63 52 65 www.minuitune.fr / facebook.com/minuitune / @MinuitUneFr