When Technology Steps Into the City

By Kaushik Kalyan Kotte
Photography and Visual Documentation, Brandindia.fr

Before the industry leaders arrive, before the main stages open, and before VivaTech becomes a full professional universe of keynotes, investors, founders and global conversations, there was this first contact on the Champs-Élysées.

I was in fact asked to do what felt like a simple assignment: take photographs, observe the space, and document every aspect of the VivaTech teaser on the Champs-Élysées. I thought my role would remain behind the camera. I would look, frame, capture and move on.

But little did I know that Writtwik would ask me to go beyond the photographs and write the curtain-raiser of the summit through my own eyes!

That was not expected. I have always seen myself more as a visual person than as someone who writes. Recently, I had gone to watch Spielberg’s latest film, Disclosure Day, and in a strange way, this assignment felt like my own small disclosure. To be asked to turn my visuals into a story, and that too a written one, came almost like a shock. I wouldn’t say that this was a negative shock, but the kind that shakes your comfort zone and makes you realise that maybe you have something to say beyond the image.

So this piece is not written as an expert report on technology. It is my first attempt to look at VivaTech through the eyes of someone who came with a camera, but slowly realised that the camera was also asking him questions.

On 14 June, 2026 one of the most symbolic avenues of Paris became something slightly different. People who may have come simply to walk near the Arc de Triomphe suddenly found themselves inside a public preview of the future.

From a higher view, especially from the rooftop of the Maison du Danemark, the imposing Danish House, the stalls were arranged into the letters “VIVATECH”, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. It was a very strong visual moment for me.. There were families, children, visitors, tourists, professionals, photographers, and people who were not necessarily expecting to meet technology in this way.

As a photographer and videographer for Brandindia.fr, I felt a real pleasure to enter this space with my camera. For me, the camera was not only a tool to capture an event. It became a way of observing how people react when innovation leaves the exhibition hall and comes into public life.

The first thing that struck me was the atmosphere. It was not a closed technology conference. It was open, visual, almost theatrical. The Champs-Élysées became a stage, and technology became part of the street. Children and elders were equally attracted by the installations. Some people were trying to understand what they were seeing. Others were simply filming it on their phones. Around me, there was excitement, confusion, surprise, and that very human desire to go closer to anything that shines, moves, speaks or promises something new.

One of the most fascinating installations was the algorithmic perfume experience. People were not choosing a perfume from a normal catalogue. They were writing a prompt. A memory, a feeling, a person, a place, or an emotion. The machine then interpreted the words and created a fragrance in real time. As someone coming from a visual and creative background, I found this very interesting. It made me think about how far artificial intelligence is entering the world of sensory experience. We often speak about AI producing texts, images or videos, but here it was trying to translate emotion into smell.

I could not stop asking myself: can a machine understand memory? Can a prompt carry enough of a feeling to become a perfume? Maybe the answer is not simple. But what I saw was clear. People were curious. They were ready to try. They were ready to give a part of their imagination to a machine and receive something personal in return.

Then came the robots.

There was a small humanoid robot moving through the crowd, almost at the height of a child. What stayed with me was not only the robot itself, but the faces of the children looking at it. They were not laughing in a simple way. They were not afraid either. They were studying it very seriously, as if they were trying to understand whether this thing belonged to their world or to another one. For me, this was one of the strongest visual moments of the afternoon.

Later, the robot demonstration became a real street performance. Two humanoid robots and two robotic dogs moved in front of the public, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. The operators almost felt like modern snake charmers, guiding machines instead of animals, creating a circle of attention in the middle of the city. The robots danced, gestured and interacted. The crowd followed every movement.

As a photographer, I was trying to capture not only the robots, but the relationship between the robots and the people around them. That relationship is where the story is. Technology alone is impressive, but technology inside human space becomes more meaningful. The faces, the gestures, the distance people keep, the way they lean forward, the way they record, the way children look directly and adults look through their screens — all of this tells us something about the time we are entering.

I also noticed technologies created to assist people with mobility or physical challenges. This was important for me because innovation should not only be about spectacle. It should also be about support, accessibility and dignity. When technology helps a person move, participate or experience a public space with more freedom, it becomes more than a product. It becomes part of human evolution.

That is why, for me, this first VivaTech encounter was not only about photographing an event. It was about capturing a projection of human evolution.

At the same time, I also felt that the experience could become overwhelming. There was always another object, another screen, another demonstration, another crowd gathering around the newest thing. Innovation as spectacle can be powerful, but after a while it also raises a question: what remains after the surprise?

This is where I feel Brandindia.fr gives me a special space. It allows me not only to capture images, but to participate in a deeper visual and editorial narrative. I chose to work with Brandindia.fr because it does not look at technology only as a trend. It looks at technology as part of culture, diplomacy, business, creativity, ethics and human behaviour. For someone like me, coming from visual merchandising, spatial design and creative direction, this is important. I am interested in how things are placed, how people move around them, how brands create emotion, and how spaces tell stories.

VivaTech on the Champs-Élysées gave me exactly that kind of story. It was a designed space, but also a public emotion. It was branding, but also curiosity. It was technology, but also theatre. It was Paris, but also the world arriving in Paris.

The main VivaTech event from 17 to 20 June at Porte de Versailles will now take this first contact much further. The leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and visionaries will come with their ideas, their products and their ambitions. I am looking forward to capturing not only what they show, but also what they represent. What kind of future are they proposing? Who is included in that future? Who is watching from outside? What is useful, what is beautiful, what is ethical, and what is simply impressive for a few seconds?

The Champs-Élysées preview was only a beginning. It gave me the first images, the first questions and the first emotion.

Now I am ready to go deeper into VivaTech 2026, with my camera, with curiosity, and with gratitude to Brandindia.fr and to my mentor Writtwik Banerjee for believing in my eye and giving me this opportunity.

For me, the future is not only something to be announced on a stage. It is something to be observed in people’s faces.

Acknowledgements

This article is based on my own observations, photographs and field experience during the VivaTech 2026 preview on the Champs-Élysées. Editorial and AI-assisted tools were used transparently to help match the visual material with the written narrative, and refine the overall flow. The purpose was to support the transformation of a visual assignment into a written piece, without replacing my own experience or point of view. I also thank Writtwik for encouraging me to look beyond the camera and develop this visual experience into a written story. Images used from the VivaTech press kit are mentioned where applicable. No AI-generated image has been used as documentary photography.