Philips Research Press Release

Philips presents innovations that create personal experiences

Shanghai, China - During the Philips Innovation Event Asia, Royal Philips Electronics demonstrated some of its latest technologies and concepts that have been designed to improve and contribute to the quality of people’s lives.

The purpose of the event was to emphasize the importance of the opportunities that China is offering to Philips and vice versa. David Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Philips Electronics in Greater China, stated that the scale of the Chinese market requires speedy innovations. Already Philips is annually investing 40 million Euros in R&D in China. “Through our eleven R&D centers across China, we benefit from the abundance of top level Chinese talents. Our innovative competiveness in China will also contribute to our global competitiveness. For example, the development of value-segmented X-Ray scanners for the Chinese market by the Philips/Neusoft joint venture also creates global market opportunities for Philips.”

Rick Harwig, Chief Technology Officer of Royal Philips Electronics, emphasized the importance of working in a spirit of Open Innovation to support existing businesses as well as to create new businesses in China. “With our joint research programs with the Technical University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands and Zhejiang University we have created a ‘brain bridge’ between Europe and China. This ‘brain bridge’ can act as a gateway for Chinese companies to Europe.”

Philips Research has integrated experiences research into its innovation pipeline. “Our people-centric research involves understanding what people actually want from technology to improve their daily lives,” continued Rick Harwig. “For this purpose Philips Research has built two new research laboratories in Europe, next to the existing HomeLab. One for personal healthcare technologies (CareLab) and another for atmosphere creation for retail (ShopLab). Here people are confronted with the latest innovations and we are able to research the functionality and acceptability of the concept, as well as the way people experience it.”

Personal healthcare innovations

As people grow older, their sight, hearing, memory and cognitive ability start to deteriorate and their physical mobility decreases. Researchers at Philips have developed the Activity Lamp, a lighting concept that produces optimal lighting conditions so that elderly people can continue to enjoy leisure activities such as reading, playing cards, embroidery, etc. The Philips CareServant has been designed for use on hospital wards and in care organizations. It represents yet another way of supporting people’s daily activities by using technology to deliver patient-centered services to improve their quality of life. It is TV-based and therefore very easy to operate via a simple remote control. CareServant delivers a range of information, communication and entertainment services, such as audio- and video-on-demand.

When it comes to people’s health, it is clear that prevention is better than cure. Where illness cannot be cured, disease management at home is better than hospitalization. Philips has developed an unobtrusive solution, the smartBed, to monitor the quality of sleep, and garments for heart failure management to monitor the early indicators of decompensation i.e. the deterioration of the status of a heart failure patient. The technologies will also support the physicians in the treatment of patients with a chronic heart disease.

Lifestyle innovations

Wirelessly connected devices continue to offer new features and experiences, and immersive TV, such as mobile TV, is emerging as the next big thing. Scientists at Philips are developing innovative technologies for the high-quality playback of MPEG video streams in wirelessly connected applications, as they may have become corrupted as a result of a faulty network transmission. Philips 3D displays give a fascinating 3D experience as objects and images come out of the screen. 3D will be the new revolution in viewing experience and now the viewer does not have to wear the special glasses anymore, since Philips uses the latest WOWvx 3D technology in its displays.

Solid state lighting innovations

Solid state lighting uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources, which are compact, highly functional - they can generate virtually any color and can be dimmed instantly - and energy efficient. Solid state lighting enables retailers to alter the ambience of their stores by painting with light. For this purpose, Philips has developed an innovative color scanning and pointing device called the LightWand. To select a color, users simply point the wand at an appropriately colored light or touch a suitably colored object. To paint that color into a display area, they simply point the wand at the appropriate light source. Philips is also developing new concepts that enhance the shopping experience by adding dynamics and interactivity to in-store lighting. For this purpose a new beam shaping technology has been developed. With this technology the shape and direction of a beam of light from an LED can be electrically steered onto a single spot or spread out over precisely controlled areas.

For general white lighting applications, scientists at Philips have developed two new bright white LED retrofit lamp prototypes that are ideal for down lighting as they deliver exceptional brightness from a very small source. The prototypes have been designed with a standard fitting so they can be plugged-in directly to existing sockets. Their brightness exceeds that of a 20-Watt low-voltage halogen lamp, while being more energy efficient and generating far less heat.

Steve Klink
Communications Department Philips Research
Tel.: +31 40 27 43703
Mobile: +31 6 10888824
E-mail: steve.klink@philips.com

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 116,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 26 billion in 2008, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.