include the mbed library with this snippet

#include <VL6180X.h>
#include <Wire.h>

// Defines /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// The Arduino two-wire interface uses a 7-bit number for the address,
// and sets the last bit correctly based on reads and writes
#define ADDRESS_DEFAULT 0b0101001

// RANGE_SCALER values for 1x, 2x, 3x scaling - see STSW-IMG003 core/src/vl6180x_api.c (ScalerLookUP[])
static uint16_t const ScalerValues[] = {0, 253, 127, 84};

// Constructors ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

VL6180X::VL6180X(void)
  : address(ADDRESS_DEFAULT)
  , scaling(0)
  , ptp_offset(0)
  , io_timeout(0) // no timeout
  , did_timeout(false)
{
}

void VL6180X::writeReg(uint16_t reg, uint8_t value)
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  Wire.write(value);
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();
}

// Writes a 16-bit register
void VL6180X::writeReg16Bit(uint16_t reg, uint16_t value)
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  Wire.write((value >> 8) & 0xff);  // value high byte
  Wire.write(value & 0xff);         // value low byte
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();
}

// Writes a 32-bit register
void VL6180X::writeReg32Bit(uint16_t reg, uint32_t value)
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  Wire.write((value >> 24) & 0xff); // value highest byte
  Wire.write((value >> 16) & 0xff);
  Wire.write((value >> 8) & 0xff);
  Wire.write(value & 0xff);         // value lowest byte
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();
}

// Reads an 8-bit register
uint8_t VL6180X::readReg(uint16_t reg)
{
  uint8_t value;

  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();

  Wire.requestFrom(address, (uint8_t)1);
  value = Wire.read();
  Wire.endTransmission();

  return value;
}

// Reads a 16-bit register
uint16_t VL6180X::readReg16Bit(uint16_t reg)
{
  uint16_t value;

  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();

  Wire.requestFrom(address, (uint8_t)2);
  value = (uint16_t)Wire.read() << 8; // value high byte
  value |= Wire.read();               // value low byte
  Wire.endTransmission();

  return value;
}

// Reads a 32-bit register
uint32_t VL6180X::readReg32Bit(uint16_t reg)
{
  uint32_t value;

  Wire.beginTransmission(address);
  Wire.write((reg >> 8) & 0xff);  // reg high byte
  Wire.write(reg & 0xff);         // reg low byte
  last_status = Wire.endTransmission();

  Wire.requestFrom(address, (uint8_t)4);
  value = (uint32_t)Wire.read() << 24;  // value highest byte
  value |= (uint32_t)Wire.read() << 16;
  value |= (uint16_t)Wire.read() << 8;
  value |= Wire.read();                 // value lowest byte
  Wire.endTransmission();

  return value;
}