It seems like Intel has its hands full these days as it collaborates with many different companies. Last month the company teamed up with Toshiba to develop CM1 educational tablet PC. More recently it extended its portfolio with McAfee products. Jumping back into the limelight, Intel now joins forces with Nokia to create the premier joint innovation research center which opened up just today.
The joint venture along with the University of Oulu will recruit around two dozen R&D professionals. The research center will also be the newest inclusion to Intel Labs Europe, Intel’s European Research Network. Research pertaining to new mobile user experiences will initially be carried out at the lab. Interfaces that bear similarities to interactions taking place in the real world can lead to more natural experiences just as movies and games provide a realistic feel through 3D graphics.
“The University of Oulu’s focus on future telecommunications solutions as well as electronics and photonics made it the perfect location for the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center,” commented Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs.
“3D technology could change the way we use our mobile devices and make our experiences with them much more immersive. Our new joint laboratory with Intel draws on the Oulu research community’s 3D interface expertise, and over time will lay down some important foundations for future mobile experiences,” stated Rich Green, Senior vice president and chief technical officer, Nokia.
The laboratory features the MeeGo open source platform that was lately unveiled by Nokia and Intel. There is another interesting area of research that the center would look into which is currently only found in science fiction movies. Researchers would experiment with technologies that permit the displaying of 3D hologram of people who are communicating on the other end of the phone.
Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center is situated at the Center for Internet Excellence and offers an apt environment for sensor research as well as testing and piloting technological and social innovations.