Latest news with #FrançoisBitouzet
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
VivaTech: Mental health innovations take centre stage at Europe's largest tech fair
VivaTech opened its doors this Wednesday in Paris, marking the start of Europe's most important tech and startup annual event. With more than 165,000 expected visitors and nearly 14,000 startups from over 50 countries, the ninth edition of the event is set to be the biggest yet. Just like last year, artificial intelligence (AI) is the star of the show. But this time, some of the most attention-grabbing innovations are those applying AI and tech to health care and mental well-being. 'Artificial intelligence is moving from science fiction to real-life application. And visitors will discover with the more than 13,000 start-ups what it is going to mean for business, for our everyday lives and our democracies," said François Bitouzet, Director General of VivaTech. There is a geopolitical context that is incredible in which tech and AI play a role, and we will analyse this during the next four days," he told Euronews. In a year marked by increasing geopolitical tensions and debates around technological sovereignty, Europe is looking to assert itself as a key player in AI innovation. But the tech fair also serves as a platform to explore how this technology can help address deeply human challenges. One such example is Emobot, a French startup developing an AI-powered tool that helps monitor mood disorders through a patient's facial expressions and voice. 'It's an app that is installed on the phone and on the computer. We analyse facial expressions every second while the patient uses their phone throughout the day," explained Antony Perzo, co-founder and CTO of Emobot."We also analyse their voice. Then, we aggregate this data to monitor for symptoms of depression. All this data, we put it together and then make a dashboard for the doctor that allows them to follow the evolution of the mood disorder symptoms," he told Euronews. All this information is combined to generate a dashboard for doctors, allowing them to track the evolution of symptoms remotely. 'Psychiatry is one of the few disciplines where we can't visualise disorders. In other areas of medicine, we have MRIs or imaging tools. We wanted to create the first device capable of tracking and visualising mood symptoms over time. Think of it as a sort of thermometer for mental health', he said. Another mental health startup, AMOI, blends neuroscience with perfume to shift a person's mood in just minutes. Whether you're looking for focus, calm, energy or joy, AMOI claims its neuro-fragrances can deliver results within five minutes. With more than one in four people reporting feeling mentally unwell, AMOI's founder Pascale Fontaine, says her project is about offering accessible and enjoyable tools for emotional well-being. VivaTech runs until 14 June at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
Mental health innovations take centre stage at VivaTech Paris
VivaTech opened its doors this Wednesday in Paris, marking the start of Europe's most important tech and startup annual event. With more than 165,000 expected visitors and nearly 14,000 startups from over 50 countries, the ninth edition of the event is set to be the biggest yet. Just like last year, artificial intelligence (AI) is the star of the show. But this time, some of the most attention-grabbing innovations are those applying AI and tech to health care and mental well-being. 'Artificial intelligence is moving from science fiction to real-life application. And visitors will discover with the more than 13,000 start-ups what it is going to mean for business, for our everyday lives and our democracies," said François Bitouzet, Director General of VivaTech. There is a geopolitical context that is incredible in which tech and AI play a role, and we will analyse this during the next four days," he told Euronews. In a year marked by increasing geopolitical tensions and debates around technological sovereignty, Europe is looking to assert itself as a key player in AI innovation. But the tech fair also serves as a platform to explore how this technology can help address deeply human challenges. One such example is Emobot, a French startup developing an AI-powered tool that helps monitor mood disorders through a patient's facial expressions and voice. 'It's an app that is installed on the phone and on the computer. We analyse facial expressions every second while the patient uses their phone throughout the day," explained Antony Perzo, co-founder and CTO of Emobot. "We also analyse their voice. Then, we aggregate this data to monitor for symptoms of depression. All this data, we put it together and then make a dashboard for the doctor that allows them to follow the evolution of the mood disorder symptoms," he told Euronews. All this information is combined to generate a dashboard for doctors, allowing them to track the evolution of symptoms remotely. 'Psychiatry is one of the few disciplines where we can't visualise disorders. In other areas of medicine, we have MRIs or imaging tools. We wanted to create the first device capable of tracking and visualising mood symptoms over time. Think of it as a sort of thermometer for mental health', he said. Another mental health startup, AMOI, blends neuroscience with perfume to shift a person's mood in just minutes. Whether you're looking for focus, calm, energy or joy, AMOI claims its neuro-fragrances can deliver results within five minutes. With more than one in four people reporting feeling mentally unwell, AMOI's founder Pascale Fontaine, says her project is about offering accessible and enjoyable tools for emotional well-being. VivaTech runs until 14 June at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris. The European debate on children's access to social media networks has begun, with three EU Member States promoting the idea of a "digital majority" or the age below which it would be forbidden to connect to such platforms. For France, Spain and Greece, the goal is to protect minors from dangerous online content. "Today, in the terms and conditions of use of these platforms, there is already a minimum age of 13," explains Clara Chappaz, the French Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Economy. However, Chappaz says: "We've all been children, it's very easy to change your date of birth. And so the current system means that, on average, children are logging on and creating accounts from the age of 7-8." France, Spain and Greece believe that the algorithms used by social networks expose the very young to addictive content that can ultimately lead to increased anxiety or depression. They also argue that excessive exposure may limit the development of certain skills and impair cognitive abilities. The EU currently has legislation in place in the form of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which tackles illegal online content such as hate speech, terrorism and child pornography. The law has been in place for almost two years for larger platforms and search engines, and just over a year for smaller organisations. But for industry representatives in Brussels, new legislation appears premature. "We believe that the new rules must first be properly applied. We haven't yet seen all the effects," says Constantin Gissler, Managing Director of Dot Europe, which represents online services and platforms in Brussels. "I think it's a bit hasty at this stage to be already discussing new rules and I think it's also very important that we take more account of the reality and implications for minors of such a ban," he adds. Paris, Madrid and Athens are also proposing the integration of age verification and parental control systems for devices connected to the Internet. The European Commission is currently working on an age verification application. Last month it published draft guidelines to protect minors, such as measures to verify the age of users or to set children's accounts as private by default. It is also conducting investigations against TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in relation to the protection of minors.
Euronews
04-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Trump's tariffs hang over Europe's start-ups but the continent remains ‘extremely attractive'
ADVERTISEMENT As Europe prepares to draw the battle lines with the United States following another tariff hike on the EU's exports to the US, the start-up and tech community are preparing to forge closer ties, according to a leading figure in one of Europe's largest tech events. 'Today, what's happening, which is rather paradoxical, is that there are clouds gathering over these customs duties,' François Bitouzet, managing director of t he Paris tech conference VivaTechnology , told Euronews Next. 'But in terms of business, people are even more keen to forge closer links between Europe and the United States,' he added. The event, which opens its doors in June, will welcome almost 14,000 start-ups from around the world, which will likely be hit by the US tariffs as it is expected to impact the flow of VC capital. US tech giants Nvidia , Meta, Google, and IBM will also be attending and could be stung in return by Europe. French government spokesperson Sophie Primas told French radio on Thursday that the government plans to 'attack services,' including untaxed US digital services. France will, however, have to get a unanimous agreement from the 26 other EU members to do so. Related What is Trump's DOGE commission headed by Musk and why is it already being sued? Her comments come a day after US President Donald Trump unveiled plans to impose 20 per cent tariffs on the EU's exports to the US, on top of auto and steel and aluminium tariffs announced last month. But France has already taken a tough stance on tax measures with Meta and Google's parent company Alphabet. In 2019, the county implemented a digital services tax on the companies, which Trump said at the time discriminated against US businesses. What's important for start-ups to understand is there are other world markets are beyond the United States. François Bitouzet Managing director Viva Tech But the international tech event will, for the first time, have an American pavilion to showcase US start-ups. 'It's because, from a business point of view, people want to tighten the lines so that business can continue on both sides of the United States,' Bitouzet said. One tech leader and Trump advisor whose presence at VivaTech is missing this year is Elon Musk. The Tesla, SpaceX and xAI boss has attended the event either virtually or in real life for the past two years. Related Life on Mars, 'honest' AI, and a job-free future: Elon Musk opens up at VivaTech Q&A AI could 'solve some of our hardest problems,' says Amazon CTO Werner Vogels However, the event will not be about just securing relations with the US. 'What's important for start-ups to understand is there are other world markets are beyond the United States,' Bitouzet said. 'India is back with a vengeance, and we have increasingly strong links with Japan and South Korea, so we need to think about how we can move forward with other countries too,' he added. ADVERTISEMENT Another country of importance for VivaTech is Canada, which is the event's chosen country to feature, and the Canadian embassy in Paris is where one of VivaTech's press conferences was held on Thursday. The challenges facing Europe's start-ups But European start-ups do not have to look too far for international opportunities. 'People often say that Europe is a single market, but for start-ups, this is not yet the case,' said Bitouzet. 'If you're a French start-up and go to Germany, there's a different language and other types of regulation. So how can we create a real single market for start-ups at European level?' ADVERTISEMENT This, he said, is one of the issues that Europe faces if it wants to become more independent tech leaders. 'What Europe lacks today is precisely the ability to organise itself around a common will in tech and digital and to move on to the decision-making and implementation stage,' he said. Related AI could help or harm the environment depending on how it's used, Piccard says VivaTech 2024: France aims to become a world leader on AI but obstacles remain But Bitouzet said that when VivaTech opens its doors, 'for four days, Europe is the epicentre of global tech'. Regardless of the criticisms of Europe not being far up enough on the global tech podium and a global trade war in the works, Bitouzet remains optimistic about the continent's future. ADVERTISEMENT 'Despite what some people may say, there are some incredible start-ups, there's a fantastic economic market, there are political decision-makers who know and understand what's at stake in technology and I can guarantee you that, seen from this angle, Europe is extremely attractive,' he said.
