Form, Function, Funding and Research Come Together in New Mobile Telephone Research Center

Today is the official opening of the new MOBILE LIFE VINN Excellence in Kista, Stockholm. At the Center, research into new telecommunications technology will be combined with an emphasis on making user-friendly products for the mobile market. At the opening there will be demonstrations of cutting-edge products and a ceremony to announce the winners of the “Mobile 2020” student design competition. “At the Center, research is focussed on user-friendliness. We provide an arena where researchers and industry professionals can meet. Our strategy recognizes both the needs of users and the need for creativity throughout the whole process, from initial concept to finished product”, said Kristina Höök, the Director of the Center and Professor in Human-Machine Interaction at Stockholm University. The Center has been allocated a total research budget of some 210 million Swedish kronor from both academic and industry sources for ten years. When the Center is fully operational, the Swedish telecoms industry, the university and VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) will each contribute a third of the running costs. At the opening, new products in mobile telephony will be put on show, including an “emotional diary” which collects SMS messages, mobile photos, a physical memory derived from sensors on the user’s body, as well as an application that allows several users to collaborate in producing a video by mobile telephone. During the afternoon, the winners of the “Mobile 2020” student competition will be announced. The competition consists of two parts – a design section and a short story section. In all, twenty-five students from a range of countries including Canada, South Korea and the USA submitted entries. The winner of the design competition will get the opportunity will get a six months’ internship and the chance to work together with designers, engineers, and researchers from Sony Ericsson and Mobile Life. In addition to Professor Kristina Höök, the Center will also be staffed by a number of other professors, including Lars Erik Holmquist, Oskar Juhlin och Annika Waern. The Center is located at the IT-University campus at Kista, and run by Stockholm University in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS), and the Interactive Institute, which are both in Kista. Other stakeholders include Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, TeliaSonera, Microsoft Research, Stockholm Innovation and Growth, Kista Science City and the Stockholm City Council. For information : Kristina Höök, Professor, mobile +46 70 5617035, email kia@dsv.su.se, www.dsv.su.se/~kia Oskar Juhlin, Docent, mobile +46 70 379 39 64, email oskarj@tii.se, www.tii.se/mobility/People/oskar-web/index.htm Lars Erik Holmquist, Docent, mobile +46 703 55 85 00, email leh@viktoria.se Annika Waern, Docent, mobile +46 70 3363916, email annika@sics.se For press photos: Maria Erlandsson, mobile +46 70 230 88 01, email maria.erlandsson@eks.su.se