Out of the lab and on the market : how Sony Computer Science Labs (Sony CSL) turn research into profits

Tetsu Natsume of Sony Computer Science Labs (Sony CSL) has been pioneering technology promotion for a decade. As he seeks marketplace opportunities for ground-breaking research, he plays the role of a Technology Producer -- a role that will be increasingly important as organizations seek optimally efficient and effective applications of basic research. Natsume's task has been greatly facilitated by his association with Sony CSL, a research lab founded by co-author Mario Tokoro. While CSL is owned by SONY, it nevertheless operates almost entirely independently. At CSL, a diverse, cosmopolitan group of talented researchers are free to explore any idea that might one day change the world. Natsume's task is to optimise that process by identifying the best path to the market for the new insights that pour out of CSL. Functioning somewhat like a movie producer, Natsume has blazed a trail for technology promoters the world over. He explains his techniques for overcoming challenges and embracing opportunities. His "10 core principles of technology promotion", which offer the reader an especially valuable framework for moving between the very different worlds of the lab and the marketplace, cover the importance of appropriate timing, speed, commitment and mindset, while being rigorously simple and boldly ambitious. This book is an eye-opening primer for anyone interested in realising and optimising the commercial value of basic research. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Preface 12 Authors 14 Section 1: How Sony CSL Turns Research into Profits 16 Chapter 1: Birth of the Technology Promotion Office 18 1.1 The Daily Grind of a Technology Promoter 18 1.2 Technology Promotion: Navigating the Gaps of Timing and Setting between Business and Research 22 1.2.1 The Invention of Augmented Reality in the Late 1990s 22 1.2.2 Thirteen Years of AR Development Comes to Fruition in a Video Game 24 1.2.3 Navigating Gaps in Timing and Setting to Bring Research to Market 26 1.3 What Is the TPO? 27 1.3.1 Meeting Mario 28 1.4 Assembling a Corps of Researchers with Ideas Just Crazy Enough to Change the World 29 1.4.1 Vision of the Ideal Research Laboratory: Contributing to Humanity and Society as Well as SONY 29 1.4.2 Senior Researchers Carving Out New Fields of Study 30 1.4.3 Blossoming of Youthful Talent 32 1.5 Sony CSL-Derived Technology Powering Xperiatm Smartphones 33 1.5.1 POBox Predictive Text Input, and One-Touch Devices Based on FEEL 33 1.5.2 Making Devices More Intuitive: Lifelog and Smart Operation Gesture Recognition 35 1.5.3 Sony CSL Is an Outlier among SONY’s Many R&D Organizations 36 1.6 Mired in Obscurity 38 1.6.1 Products Carrying CSL’s Technology DNA, but Not CSL’s Name 38 1.6.2 Changing Sony CSL’s Research Style 39 1.7 TPO Takes Flight 40 1.7.1 Mission: Maximize the Fruits of CSL Research  40 1.7.2 Three-Point Action Plan 41 1.7.2.1 Point 1: Take Inventory of Sony CSL Research. What Did That Entail? 42 1.7.2.2 What about Point 2: Lock Our Sights on the Most Promising Targets? 42 1.7.2.3 And Finally Point 3: Maximize Impact 42 Chapter 2: Case Studies in Technology Transfer 44 2.1 VAIO Pocket: A Painful Learning Experience 44 2.1.1 Most Technology Transfers Go Nowhere 44 2.1.2 Presense Technology and the VAIO Pocket 45 2.2 The Difficulty of Taking Technical Breakthroughs to Market 46 2.2.1 FEEL: A Landmark Idea 46 2.2.2 FEEL’s Lifeline: A Videoconferencing System 48 2.2.3 Adoption into the NFC Standard 49 2.2.4 FEEL-Enabled Phones Hit the Market and the “MoTR” Saga 50 2.2.5 The Development of One-Touch 51 2.3 A CSL Paris Technology’s Unexpected Route to Success 53 2.3.1 EDS: Music Categorization Technology from Paris 53 2.3.2 Building a Win–Win Relationship with SONY R&D 54 2.4 Interindustry Collaborations 55 2.4.1 Moe-Kaden: Giving Digital Appliances a Human Face 55 2.4.2 Barnstorming Negotiations with Daiwa House and within SONY 57 2.5 Going to Market with a Product Targeting Teenage Girls 58 2.5.1 An App That Broke the Galapagos Barrier 58 2.5.2 Proving the Power of a Public Beta 60 Chapter 3: Next-Level Challenges for the Technology Promoter 64 3.1 Econophysics Optimizes semiconductor Production 64 3.1.1 It’s Called Econophysics: Now Where Can We Use It? 64 3.1.2 Forging a Unique Partnership with the Semiconductor Business Group 66 3.1.3 A Top-Shelf Example of Bottom-Line Gains 67 3.2 A New Outlet for Research Discoveries: Science Content for Entertainment Media 68 3.2.1 Ken Mogi’s “Aha! Experience” Draws Attention and Sega Wants In 68 3.2.2 Tapping Sony Music Artists to Do a Deal with Sega 69 3.2.3 An Aha! Experience Ecosystem with an Eight-Digit Dollar Value 71 3.3 Sony CSL’s First Spin-Off 73 3.3.1 The Place Project: A New Kind of Location-Sensing Service 73 3.3.2 Creating a Buyer 75 3.3.3 Forging a Flagship Product for the Tokyo National Museum 76 3.4 Toward A New Electric Power Industry 78 3.4.1 Creating a Next-Generation Electrical Infrastructure 78 3.4.2 A Large-Scale Project Involving Academic and Corporate Partners 79 3.4.3 “Packetized Electric Power”: A Concept Borrowed from the Internet 80 3.4.4 Making the Connection with SONY’s Battery Biz 80 3.4.5 Putting on Public Viewings of the World Cup in Ghana 81 3.4.6 Launching a Mobile Phone Charging Service for Unelectrified Areas 84 3.4.7 Forming a Consortium for the “Internet of Electricity” 86 Chapter 4: Techniques for Technology Promotion 90 4.1 Cataloging of Research Discoveries 90 4.1.1 The Review Talk 90 4.1.2 The TPO Interview 91 4.1.3 Multiple Information-Gathering Channels 93 4.2 Developing Sales Collateral 95 4.2.1 A Sales Sheet That Zeroes in on “What Does It Do?” 95 4.2.2 Technology Tag = Schematized FAQ 96 4.3 Selling 97 4.3.1 Demo Road Show: Empowering TPO to Make Initial Pitches Independently 98 4.3.2 T-pop News: An E-Mail Newsletter for People Who Have Attended Our Demos 100 4.4 The Importance of the MoTR 103 4.5 Philosophy on License Fees for Technology 106 4.6 The 10 Core Principles of Technology Promotion 107 4.6.1 Principle 1: There’s a Right Time to Bring Every Discovery out of the Lab 109 4.6.2 Principle 2: Use Every Possible Connection 109 4.6.3 Principle 3: Don’t Hold Preconceptions About Other Organizations 109 4.6.4 Principle 4: Assume That Customers Need a Simple Message Drilled in Hard 110 4.6.5 Principle 5: Mental Fortitude 110 4.6.6 Principle 6: Try Things That Haven’t Been Tried Before 110 4.6.7 Principle 7: Move Fast! Every Second Counts 110 4.6.8 Principle 8: Follow-Up After Technology Transfer Is a Must 111 4.6.9 Principle 9: Don’t Just Be a Technology Promoter, Be a Research Producer 111 4.6.10 Principle 10: Never Forget That You’re Doing It for the Lab 111 4.7 Why Technology Promotion Is Necessary 111 4.7.1 Overcoming Divergences of Timing and Setting 112 4.7.2 Role Division between Researchers and Technology Promoters 113 4.7.3 Technology Promotion Must Be Part of the Lab 113 4.7.4 Beyond Technology Promotion 113 4.7.5 How Selling Research Changes Research 114 Section II: Researchers on Technology Promotion 116 II.1 Implementing Outrageous Ideas 116 II.2 Implementation of Academic versus Corporate Research 118 II.3 Papers Are Fine, But Nothing Beats the Joy of Research That Becomes Products That Change the World! 121 Section III: The History of Sony’s Technology Promotion Office (Mario Tokoro) 124 Chapter 5: Before TPO 126 5.1 Lab-Driven Product Development: The Precursor to TPO 126 5.2 Jigsaw Puzzles with Pieces Missing and Assets Left to ROT 128 Chapter 6: From the Perspective of Technology Management 130 6.1 Business Management and Innovation 130 6.2 Technology: Development Process, Time, and Cost 131 6.3 Horizontal Business Models and Open Innovation 133 6.4 Management of Open Innovation 135 Chapter 7: What TPO Represents 138 7.1 The implementation of TPO 138 7.2 What TPO Represents 139 In Closing: Borderless Technology Promotion 142 Afterword 146 Index 148 A 148 B 148 C 148 D 148 E 148 F 149 G 149 H 149 I 149 J 149 K 149 L 149 M 149 N 149 O 150 P 150 Q 150 R 150 S 150 T 151 V 151 W 152 X 152 Y 152 Z 152 Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- Authors -- Section 1: How Sony CSL Turns Research into Profits -- Chapter 1: Birth of the Technology Promotion Office -- 1.1 The Daily Grind of a Technology Promoter -- 1.2 Technology Promotion: Navigating the Gaps of Timing and Setting between Business and Research -- 1.2.1 The Invention of Augmented Reality in the Late 1990s -- 1.2.2 Thirteen Years of AR Development Comes to Fruition in a Video Game -- 1.2.3 Navigating Gaps in Timing and Setting to Bring Research to Market -- 1.3 What Is the TPO? -- 1.3.1 Meeting Mario -- 1.4 Assembling a Corps of Researchers with Ideas Just Crazy Enough to Change the World -- 1.4.1 Vision of the Ideal Research Laboratory: Contributing to Humanity and Society as Well as SONY -- 1.4.2 Senior Researchers Carving Out New Fields of Study -- 1.4.3 Blossoming of Youthful Talent -- 1.5 Sony CSL-Derived Technology Powering Xperia tm Smartphones -- 1.5.1 POBox Predictive Text Input, and One-Touch Devices Based on FEEL -- 1.5.2 Making Devices More Intuitive: Lifelog and Smart Operation Gesture Recognition -- 1.5.3 Sony CSL Is an Outlier among SONY's Many R&D Organizations -- 1.6 Mired in Obscurity -- 1.6.1 Products Carrying CSL's Technology DNA, but Not CSL's Name -- 1.6.2 Changing Sony CSL's Research Style -- 1.7 TPO Takes Flight -- 1.7.1 Mission: Maximize the Fruits of CSL Research -- 1.7.2 Three-Point Action Plan -- 1.7.2.1 Point 1: Take Inventory of Sony CSL Research. What Did That Entail? -- 1.7.2.2 What about Point 2: Lock Our Sights on the Most Promising Targets? -- 1.7.2.3 And Finally Point 3: Maximize Impact -- Chapter 2: Case Studies in Technology Transfer -- 2.1 VAIO Pocket: A Painful Learning Experience -- 2.1.1 Most Technology Transfers Go Nowhere -- 2.1.2 Presense Technology and the VAIO Pocket "Tetsu Natsume of Sony Computer Science Labs (Sony CSL) has been pioneering technology promotion for a decade. As he seeks marketplace opportunities for ground-breaking research, he plays the role of a Technology Producer -- a role that will be increasingly important as organizations seek optimally efficient and effective applications of basic research. Natsume's task has been greatly facilitated by his association with Sony CSL, a research lab founded by co-author Mario Tokoro. While CSL is owned by SONY, it nevertheless operates almost entirely independently. At CSL, a diverse, cosmopolitan group of talented researchers are free to explore any idea that might one day change the world. Natsume's task is to optimise that process by identifying the best path to the market for the new insights that pour out of CSL. Functioning somewhat like a movie producer, Natsume has blazed a trail for technology promoters the world over. He explains his techniques for overcoming challenges and embracing opportunities. His "10 core principles of technology promotion", which offer the reader an especially valuable framework for moving between the very different worlds of the lab and the marketplace, cover the importance of appropriate timing, speed, commitment and mindset, while being rigorously simple and boldly ambitious.This book is an eye-opening primer for anyone interested in realising and optimising the commercial value of basic research."--Provided by publisher Content: Table of Contents Foreword Part I - How Sony CSL Turns Research into Results Chapter 1 - Birth of the Technology Promotion Office (TPO) Chapter 2 - Case Studies in Technology Transfer Chapter 3 - Next-Level Challenges for the Technology Promoter Chapter 4 - Techniques for Technology Promotion Part II - Researchers on Technology Promotion Chapter 5 - Implementing outrageous ideas - Alexis Andre, Researcher Chapter 6 - Implementation of Academic vs. Corporate Research - Jun Rekimoto, Deputy Director Chapter 7 - Papers are fine, but nothing beats the joy of research that becomes products that change the world! - Takashi Isozaki, Researcher Part III - The History of TPO (Mario Tokoro) Chapter 8 - Before TPO Chapter 9- From the Perspective of Technology Management Chapter 10 - What TPO Represents In Closing: Borderless Technology Promotion Afterword