Paris! Pizza! Beer! Blipps! Blippar heads to France to meet Epitech students

After saying goodbye to two outstanding Epitech students at the end of their six-month Blippar placements as blipp developer interns (bye, Romain and Ludo!), the whole team was naturally keen to find a couple more fresh tech minds just like them.

So blipp architect (and former Epitech student) Clement hopped on the Eurostar to Paris with Blippar recruiter Tris to meet with 30 of the prestigious computer software school’s current undergraduates.

Two Epitech students get to grips with the Blippar app during the event

Speaking about visiting the school - which recently became a Blippar partner - Clement said: 'It's crucial for us to spread the word about Blippar to young people - and, in particular, young tech students interested in computer software - not only so they get to know the app and learn how to use it, but because they'll be the ones building the apps of the future!

'We've just had had two terrific Epitech students working with us as interns for the last six months, so we were keen to find some more just like them back in Paris. Plus, it was my old school so I know how great the students there all are!'

Clement, centre, teaching students how to use the app

The meet-up took place in the school’s Innovation Hub, an area which students (aged 18-24) can visit in order to learn about hot topics in the world of tech innovation, such as Big Data, cloud computing and augmented reality.

After being introduced by the head of the AR department, Clem took over, telling the students a bit about Blippar, showing them how to blipp images, teaching them how to build blipps themselves, and explaining how to upload a new marker (the French Pizza Hut box) to a current Blippar campaign in order to make it trigger a live blipp (the UK Pizza box blipp).

French Pizza Hut boxes, which Clement uploaded as a marker to the UK Pizza Hut blipp

The students were seriously impressed with the app and all its capabilities, with a number of them expressing interest in applying for one of our internships.

Quentin Guay, a fifth year student at Epitech, said: 'This event was very good, and nothing at all like the conventional meet-ups between companies and students; the Blippar guys took time to talk with us individually. In traditional conferences the format doesn't encourage the talk, but here we were relaxed and happy to talk about subjects that matter to us, and therefore ask more pertinent questions'

Second year student Gregoire Ballot said: 'The event's ambiance was a bit like Blippar' itself: cool, dynamic and innovative. We could discuss AR openly with Blippar's employees - who were both very open-minded and enthusiastic - and then test the app with pizza and beer.

'For me, Blippar is sci-fi. I can now watch a video on top of a newspaper - a bit like Harry Potter. It's pure innovation - the kind of thing we love - and it makes us want to join them!'

Blippar recruiter Tris talking to Epitech students about the internships

Najeeth Balasingam, another fifth year student, added: 'It was great! The Blippar employees made us want to apply for internships. Concerning the event ambiance, it was kind of Google-like: not corporate, very friendly, and apparently Tristram said it's the same in their office.

'Mainly, they believe in what they're doing. I will definitely contact them for an internship. I like innovation that makes things evolve, and Blippar's technology that can help facilitate things in everyday life. I can see it being used in industries like transport and entertainment - especially in restaurants.'

Thibaut Royer, Head of the AR department at the Innovation Hub, left, and a student

Romain Lods, Head of Epitech Innovation Hub, said: 'Tristram and Clement from Blippar led this meeting in a totally original and informal manner. Blippar's technology is mind-blowing and I'm certain that original projects will be born from this partnership.'

Thibaut Royer, Head of the AR department at the Innovation Hub, said: 'Blippar's presentation was very informative and their technology seems immensely capable. Coupled with their DIY platform Blippbuilder it opens a lot of possibilities. Everything was organised in a very helpful way, so thank you to them!'

Furthermore, the Epitech director himself was fascinated by the app, suggesting it might be an idea to make the printed guide to the students’ Epitech Innovative Project (EIP) show blippable.

We’ll let you know what happens….