Virtual, augmented, mixed reality and 360º videos; all on the same platform. Fabio Uribe (Bucaramanga, 1964) is the CEO and co-founder of MPL XR Company, a company created in Colombia 15 years ago that seeks to expand in Europe from Barcelona as the central point of its operations. Systems engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the IT sector, postgraduate in management development, member of several boards of directors and with hundreds of eLearning projects behind him, Fabio Uribe has embarked – over the last year – on Invenza XR, a content ecosystem of extended and immersive realities.

“I am passionate about knowledge, and even more so about transferring it using cutting-edge technology”.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

FU: If we think that before smartphones, we had phones, phonebooks, and cameras and video, all on their own, we can’t go down the same path and take years to integrate technologies. In our sector, the global growth of investment in immersive technologies will be 38% per year, leading to a market of 71 billion dollars by 2026 in Europe, as highlighted in the latest report “Immersive technologies in Catalonia” by Acció. Thinking about the integration of XR extended realities, at MPL XR Company we have developed Invenza, a solution tested and in operation with more than 5,000 users that allows to manage and integrate in a single place the users, devices and contents of virtual reality, mixed reality, 360º videos and even virtual worlds of the metaverse. We are confident that this solution will enable immersive content developers, marketing companies, operations and human talent to use our platform to strategically address this challenge.

TB: A good idea you have had.

FU: Definitely Invenza, as it is the result of listening and understanding the needs of customers over the years. Also, expanding into the European and Middle East market.

TB: A bad professional experience.

FU: In the past I was the general manager of a family business that did not know how to distinguish between my work relationship and my family life. One of the partners wanted to interfere 24 hours a day and weekends in my family time, which led me to hand in my letter of resignation.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

FU: Happiness is to make the other happy in terms of the other, and not in terms of me.

TB: A professional reference that inspires you.

FU: Producer and composer Hans Zimmer. His skill, innovative capacity and creativity have led him to create masterful pieces for films such as Interstellar, Inception, Dune, Gladiator, The Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean, among others. His genius, worthy of imitation in our sector, starts with a simple note on his keyboard, incorporates technologies and creates a musical composition for an entire orchestra.

TB: A technology that will shape the future.

FU: The fusion of current technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and the real metaverse, which will result in the integration of the physical and virtual worlds, as well as the evolution of user interface devices such as mixed reality glasses into augmented reality contact lenses.

TB: What are you worried about?

FU: The separation of global interests between countries. It is worrying that while in sectors such as technology we are working on integration and inclusion, we continue with politics and economics from the Middle Ages and the first half of the 20th century, creating wars of all kinds. This only delays the social benefit that citizens of all countries, including the poorest and least developed, can have.

TB: A startup.

FU: It is not a startup, but it is worthy of everyone’s recognition. Grup Cooperatiu TEB is a centre that employs more than 650 people with intellectual disabilities, mostly with Dawn Syndrome, and that trains them, gives them work and, in some cases, even provides housing for their independence and normal life.

TB: A book to recommend.

FU: “El fin del poder: Cómo el poder ya no es lo que era”, by Moisés Naím.

TB: A series, film or song that defines your moment in life.

FU: “Interstellar”, directed by Christopher Nolan. A science fiction film in which humanity is saved from extinction and which uses physical principles of string theory and space-time displacement.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

FU: Rice curd cake from the Raush brothers chefs in Colombia. Baked knuckle of pork. And the “Pork” restaurant in the Born.

TB: A city, a journey.

FU: The Tuscany region of Italy. By car and without Google Maps.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

FU: At MPL XR Company.

TB: And a million euros?

FU: After generating them from MPL XR Company, in startups and foundations with a real sense of technology.

TB: If you were not an entrepreneur…

FU: Product ideator and visionary in a tech company.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

FU: The possibility of growing in a technological ecosystem that supports Catalonia’s development in the world.