U&I Software was formed by artists seeking to create tools that would allow them (and—by extension—other likeminded individuals) to explore new realms of creative expression. Founded in 1997 by Eric Wenger—creator of KPT Bryce—U&I Software’s mission is to provide creative artists with tools that encourage discovery and liberate them from the constraints of traditional software tools and techniques. U&I’s applications provide environments that nourish creativity and exploration by providing both paradigm-breaking functionality and aesthetically-inspiring user-interfaces that are themselves works of art.

Computer music, sound design, 2D illustration, 3D graphics and multimedia: These fields always need new research, new techniques and better tools, which requires a passion, renewed daily.  

U&I has this passion, plus the urge to develop serious toys for creative people. The U&I team are experienced artists involved in both music and graphics, and they're the first users of the products they design. That is why U&I makes friendly software that is creative, recreational, productive and inexpensive, since we think that creation tools should be accessible to anyone.   

The founder of U&I , Eric Wenger, comes from Paris, France. He has always been an art and technology addict so he could not help but get involved in software development... Eric is a graphic designer as much as a musician and an experienced programmer. He has received numerous awards for the products he's created, including GraphistPaint, VideoPaint, ArtMixer and more recently for KPT Bryce, a 3-D ray tracer especially for landscape design. On this last project, he had the chance to work with Kai Krause, the creator of the most brilliant user-interfaces existing today and co-founder of MetaTools now "MetaCreations".

Edward Spiegel was founder and president of the successful consulting group Acknowledge Solutions whose clients included Apple Computer, NeXTInc., Farallon Computing, OpCode Systems and many others. He joins U&I Software to develop a business model and strategy in keeping with U&I's philosophy: affordable tools that enable artists to realize their dreams. He is also an electronic music composer, acoustic guitarist, author and MetaSynth fanatic. His articles have appeared in Wired Magazine and other publications.

Other founders are Paul Swendsen, award winning artist and graphic designer, formerly at Lucas Film, now freelance director for special effects in cinema, and John Dalton, musician, developer, creator of DECK software and recently senior scientist at Apple Computer. Raphael Elig, also a musician, is a well known webmaster in Paris and is part of the ResRocket Surfer team.