Making art more affordable and more accessible thanks to robotics: this is what the young Quebec startup Acrylic Robotics is proposing, winner of the 2024 edition of the Québec@Collision competition which took place on Wednesday in Toronto.
“These are 8 of the best young startups in Quebec, all full of potential and ready to demonstrate the revolutionary side of their project,” says master of ceremonies Ali El Haskouri, associated with the Lavery law firm.
At the Beanfield center, these start-up companies presented their innovation projects in health, road safety and art, among others. Powered by Investissement Québec International, the Québec@Collision competition rewards the pitch winning through consulting services and coaching for a total value of several thousand dollars.
From June 17 to 20, nearly 38,000 participants from 117 countries took part in Collision, an event dedicated to technological innovation. Aiming to “redefine the global technology industry”, the international exhibition promotes innovation through its conferences, competitions, master classes and varied exhibitions.
Making the visual arts “accessible to all”
“It is easy to realize the immense contribution of technologies to different forms of art such as music, cinema, literature, but the visual arts seem to be stuck in the Renaissance era,” says Chloë Ryan, founder of ‘Acrylic Robotics and herself an artist.
For her, this delay and this reluctance to adapt to a changing world partly explains the financial vulnerability of a large number of painters. According to a study by the Regroupement des artistes en arts nationaux du Québec (RAAV) from February 2022, nearly a third of artists live below the poverty line.
Acrylic Robotics offers a new source of income for them, in addition to making visual art more affordable for the public, who are often reluctant to purchase expensive canvases. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), robots create “masterpieces in the style of your favorite creator” and reproduce as faithfully as possible the brushstrokes specific to the artist’s style.
“I want to make art more accessible because I think it’s ridiculous that you have to pay thousands of dollars to take part in the art ecosystem, but I want to do it by keeping artists in the loop and helping them earn their lives,” she said in an interview with The duty.
She does not see her robots as a replacement for the artist, nor as simple image-generative intelligence software, but as a “means for artists to have access to new markets and to make themselves known”. Artists are credited when their style is used and receive royalties.
Investor Katheleen Eva, one of the three members of the jury, considers that Acrylic Robotics offers “profound technology and well defended by Chloë Ryan. This project has many applications and it is also innovative. » To make their choice, the members of the jury were based on four criteria: the innovative character of the company, the business model and the resulting opportunities, the impact and diversity of the team and the pitch in itself.
Help at home
Among the other projects presented is Eeva, an application for managing and coordinating tasks related to family life. The “mental load” of many working mothers causes them to feel solely responsible for what happens at home.
“We would never expect such a high level of management at work: there are powerful tools to help us. This is a bit like the role that Eeva tries to play, but at home,” summarizes Adrienne Jung, co-founder of the company.
The platform uses AI and automation to bring together different tasks (making medical appointments, grocery lists, meal ideas, etc.) in one place. The application is currently being approved by the Apple Store.
Facilitate access to financing
“97% of entrepreneurs do not use financing specific to their needs and their company. Our intuitive platform helps find financing according to a company’s profile, in addition to helping them in the application process,” explains Thierry Lindor, co-founder of Happly.ai.
The online platform, which has more than 62,000 users, completes up to 90% of application documents and helps perfect the documents to be sent.
“Our technological solution will not solve the climate crisis or find a cure for cancer, but Happly can change society to finance these changes,” concludes Mr. Lindor.