In MIT Technology Review, David Pescovitz shines a spotlight on Sony Computer Science Laboratory (CSL). It’s the Sony only research facility outside Japan, it’s very small and focused on leading-edge research without regard to commercial development, and it’s patterned after the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where the desktop interface and the computer mouse were created. And it’s in Paris.

After the offer came to establish a Sony Laboratory in Europe, Steels quickly pegged Paris as the ideal location. First of all, he explains, there’s a high concentration of scientific activity within a bustling metropolis that attracts potential hires as well as a steady stream of visitors from academia. Secondly, he says, Paris has a cultural richness that’s a key ingredient in the laboratory’s multidisciplinary approach.

Read the whole article to see what fun things they’re working on.