Made by a keyboard programmer
Joue was started by Roger Foxcroft, who programs and plays keyboards for theatre. After too many shows where the rig was the thing to worry about, he set out to build one that isn't.
The name
Joue is French for "plays", as in il joue, he plays. It's said "zhoo".
Softfox
Joue is made by Softfox Ltd, a small software company in the UK.