Naturally, we won't see the results of this for many years, and it's likely that what the labs come up with will never directly be integrated into a product, but the technology and skills will be valuable in 'consumerising' whatever they come up with. And of course projects from the Software Beta Labs have led to maturing products such as Sports Tracker.
Full Press Release can be found here.
Nokia to work with two Swiss Federal Institutes of technology
on research and open Nokia Research Laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland
April 08, 2008
Espoo, Finland; Lausanne
and Zurich, Switzerland - Nokia and the Swiss Federal Institutes of
Technology in Lausanne and Zurich (EPFL and ETH Zurich) announced today
the establishment of a joint long-term research program. Nokia Research
Center will open a laboratory in Lausanne in June creating a vibrant
community linking researchers from Nokia and the Institutes of
Technology. This open model of collaboration has already been
successful for Nokia Research Center elsewhere.
Nokia
collaboration with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
and the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH Zurich) will
focus on helping people benefit from a world where they are connected
to each other, to the Internet and also to information from the
surrounding physical world. Access to the "Internet of Things" from a
mobile device will allow people to collect information from their
physical environment, filter it based on their location or preferences
and share with their friends or communities.
The initial joint research agenda will focus on pervasive communications:
- Exploring new interaction experiences and technologies utilizing all the human senses;
- Services and applications based on the user's context, such as location, and personal preferences, e.g., information provided by sensors within a mobile device or in the surrounding world;
- Internet services and technologies - enriching the Internet experience on mobile devices.
"Nokia
has already carried out a great deal of research in the field of
pervasive communications, and sees the fusing of the digital and
physical worlds as a key objective in mobility. We have chosen to work
with the Swiss Institutes of Technology because of their expertise in
this area," said Dr. Bob Iannucci, Nokia Chief Technology Officer and
Head of Nokia Research Center."
Nokia
Research Center collaborates with world-class universities and research
institutes around the world, such as the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and Stanford University in the US and University of
Cambridge, UK.
"This
agreement with Nokia reinforces a very exciting cluster of high tech
companies and research labs emerging on the EPFL campus," commented
Prof. Dr. Martin Vetterli, EPFL Vice President for International
Relations and an expert in communication systems. "Joining forces with
ETH Zurich and Nokia is the start of a unique scientific and
technological journey."
"ETH
Zurich welcomes the joint research efforts of its strong partners, and
views the collaboration as an opportunity to devise new and innovative
solutions for what has become known as the internet of things,"
commented Prof. Dr. Peter Chen, Vice President for Research from ETH
Zurich. Scientists from three different ETH Zurich departments
(Computer Science; Management, Technology and Economics; and
Information Technology and Electrical Engineering) will be involved.
The
opening of the new laboratory will take place on the campus in Lausanne
on the 5th of June 2008. The media will be welcome to attend the
opening ceremony.