Like so many great inventions, Expert RAW was a group effort — driven by Samsung’s experts and Galaxy users’ valuable feedback. To learn more about the Expert RAW experience, Samsung Newsroom spoke with the experts at Samsung Research² who collaborated on the app.

Read on to see what Hamid Sheikh, Head of the Intelligent Imaging Team at Samsung Research America’s (SRA) Mobile Processor Innovation (MPI) Lab, and Girish Kulkarni, Head of the Camera Solutions Group at the Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore (SRI-B), had to say about this innovative camera collaboration.

Q: What does the Expert RAW app do? What are the main benefits for users?

Hamid: Expert RAW really gives users the ability to take full control of their mobile photography experience much like a professional photographer would. The app captures much more comprehensive data for each image, which can be used to both improve photos and artistically enhance them with editing software like Adobe Lightroom — the go-to app for professional photographers.

To improve the overall camera experience, we worked closely with Adobe to tightly couple Expert RAW with Lightroom. The result is that photographers have full control over their creative experience. Novice photographers can also utilize automatic set points for camera controls, and then use the Samsung-specific default values in Lightroom. In both cases, the tight integration of the two apps makes for an enjoyable experience.

Girish: Expert RAW is an epic leap forward for photography. It essentially places a professional studio in your pocket. Whether you are a pro photographer or you’re just a user who wants to capture amazing content, anyone can take full advantage of the Galaxy S22’s pro-grade camera with Expert RAW. It captures high-quality, high dynamic range pictures in the multi-frame RAW format that enables precise post-capture editing and professional results.

With Expert RAW, people can capture much more information in a single picture — from dark details to bright highlights. It also drastically reduces noise and increases sharpness and detail. If you’re looking for the ultimate creative controls, you can choose your own settings for aspects like ISO, shutter speed, white balance, EV and focus, and even choose which lenses you want to use for the subject and the scene. Finally, because both JPEG and DNG files are saved when shooting, you can hop right into the Adobe Lightroom app on your smartphone or PC and edit with ease.

Q: What was the original inspiration for Expert RAW?

Hamid: Samsung camera technologies have always relied on sophisticated computational photography algorithms to produce the best picture quality. However, the standard camera app makes many decisions about how the image will be rendered in terms of color, tone, detail and noise. The user has very limited say in these decisions.

Our inspiration came from the confluence of user experience limitations and the leaps in computational and AI capabilities of today’s mobile processors. We asked ourselves, “How can we make the photography experience more inspiring for users?” So really, our inspiration came from the expert and enthusiast photography community, which yearned for an easier mobile photography experience, without sacrificing the creative control that DSLR and post-capture editing allows. Expert RAW was born out of a desire to transform that inspiration into reality.

Girish: As we heard the input of professional photographers who were mostly utilizing DSLR cameras, they wanted to achieve a pro-grade experience with smartphones. Our consumer research also showed that after using their smartphone’s auto camera for a long time, typical users were very passionate about exploring Samsung’s pro-grade camera capabilities in-depth to become better photographers.

The more we talked to professional and amateur photographers, the more we understood their needs in terms of RAW image capturing, camera controls, the post-editing experience, creative capabilities and more. That’s when we set out to create a new pro-grade experience based around RAW capturing so that every level of photographer could merge our camera controls and their creativity to enjoy professional-looking photos.

Q: What makes Expert RAW such an important release for mobile photography in general?

Hamid: The camera experience is one of the most important experiences that a user has with his or her smartphone. Samsung has been at the cutting edge of camera quality, and the gap between consumers and professional/enthusiast photographers has always been a tempting one to bridge.

I think with the release of Expert RAW, users will find that their photography experience will take a quantum leap in terms of creative control and artistic expression. I expect more and more people will find this new experience rewarding because it lets them personalize their camera based on their tastes — exactly how they want them — and not based on what some other engineers chose for them.

Girish: As an app, this platform has simplified the RAW capturing process with precise camera and lens controls and post-editing with Adobe Lightroom. It’s for every user who is willing to go beyond — to unleash the true power of an Expert RAW camera, and explore their creative side.

Q: What role did the MPI Lab play in Expert RAW’s development?

Hamid: Any time we are creating a brand-new user experience, we have to consider and overcome many tough engineering challenges. The MPI Lab developed the main idea behind Expert RAW and its technologies, and we knew it was challenge worth pursuing.

We developed a brand-new computational photography pipeline that can produce both DNG as well as processed JPEG files. Developing a complex computational photography pipeline from scratch was not easy. We no longer had the benefit of an older, mature technology base to build upon. But our team successfully developed this new, AI-based 3DISP technology to produce raw data that looks very natural when users load it in editing apps like Adobe Lightroom.

Q: What role did SRI-B play in Expert RAW’s development? What were the team’s main areas of focus?

Girish: Expert RAW was a complex R&D project, and SRI-B’s role was to think in terms of end-to-end for the best consumer experience. This required multi-domain expertise and deep collaboration among multiple teams.

SRI-B is equipped with strong multi-domain expertise teams, so we formed a task force of talented experts. They all worked together as a single team within SRI-B and also worked with a larger team of experts based in Korea and at the MPI Lab.

The multi-domain expertise and close collaboration with all key stakeholders helped SRI-B continuously focus on improving Expert RAW’s product experience, end-to-end pipeline, etc.

Q: Could you offer more details on your collaboration with one another?

Hamid: The MPI Lab has been working with SRI-B throughout our entire history at Samsung. SRI-B contributed its amazing skillset and resources towards the development of the software technologies, as well as key AI blocks for the Expert RAW pipeline. They also owned the UI piece of the Expert RAW application and provided many innovation points on the Expert RAW experience. It’s always fun working with them.

Girish: The MPI Lab has world-class expertise in computational imaging domain, and has a proven record of developing successful IPs for Samsung flagship products. That expertise was one of the key requirements for Expert RAW’s development. The MPI Lab came up with the multi-frame pipeline building blocks implementation, which helped SRI-B integrate and enhance the same for the end-to-end architecture and pipeline.

One of the major expectations for Expert RAW was that it would enable the best image quality in different lighting conditions, which requires the tuning of the multi-frame processing pipeline. MPI’s strong expertise in this area helped us continuously improve image quality before the commercial launch. In summary, MPI’s expertise in computational imaging and SRI-B’s breadth of knowledge in multiple subdomains helped SRI-B prepare Expert RAW’s end-to-end experience for commercial launch.

SRI-B and the MPI Lab used their 12-hour time zone difference effectively to plan and collaborate on Expert RAW. SRI-B’s day was MPI’s night, and vice versa. It helped to have 24/7 development to finish this complex feature in record time. We are proud of Samsung’s culture that enables respectful collaboration among different overseas R&D centers and we always enjoy working with MPI Lab.

Q: How do the MPI Lab and SRI-B plan to build on this collaboration to develop even more innovative camera technologies?

Hamid: Our journey with the new RAW camera experience is just beginning. I am excited to think about what new improvements and enhancements we can make. One of the best parts of the Expert RAW experience is that the photographer is front and center. We’ll preserve that as we actively look into the experiences of different users and continuously implement improvements to make Expert RAW even better than before.

Girish: The MPI Lab and SRI-B have been working together for the last few years developing the world’s best night mode for Samsung flagship smartphones. This collaboration helped lead us to the success story that is Expert RAW on the Galaxy S22. We’re excited to continue that momentum for the next innovative products to come.

In the future, we would like to continuously enhance Expert RAW with a focus on creating a new ecosystem for pro photography that fully utilizes pro-grade camera capabilities.

Collaborating for Creativity 

Features like Expert RAW underline Samsung’s commitment to developing tools that empower users to unleash their creativity.

Going forward, the company will continue to strengthen collaborations that leverage the knowledge and capabilities of its world-class network of R&D centers. Doing so will help unlock technologies that change the way we live, work and create.

¹ Expert RAW must be downloaded separately from the Galaxy Store, for free, before use. Expert RAW app availability is currently limited to the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 series. Samsung Members notified Expert RAW will become available on Galaxy Z Fold3 in April 2022 and Galaxy S20 Ultra, Galaxy Note20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold2 later this year.

² Samsung Electronics’ advanced R&D hub, which leads the development of future technologies for its Device eXperience division

The five papers selected for AES’ esteemed ‘Top 10’ list this year were submitted by the Samsung Research (SR) ¹ Visual Technology Team and Samsung Research America (SRA)’s Audio Lab.

Read on to learn more about the industry-leading papers submitted by Samsung to have received the Top 10 accolade this year.

① A Study in AI for Bass Extension and Distortion Reduction in Loudspeakers (SRA)

The most downloaded paper from this Fall’s AES conference, SRA’s paper entitled ‘Application of AI Techniques for Nonlinear Control of Loudspeakers’, continues the team’s work into bass extension and distortion reduction.

The paper posits that, in order to obtain high loudness that features good bass extension, low distortion and mechanical protection, the motion of the loudspeaker’s diaphragm needs to be accurately controlled.

SRA’s study presents a novel approach to solving these issues that harnesses a neural network to directly map the loudspeaker’s diaphragm displacement to the input voltage, allowing for the loudspeaker to be ‘inverted’. This technique not only allows control and linearization of the loudspeaker without theoretical assumptions, but it is also simpler to implement.

② Developing a Method To Measure Multiple Loudspeakers Simultaneously (SRA)

SRA’s second Top 10 paper, titled ‘Deconvolution of Room Impulse Responses From Simultaneous Excitation of Loudspeakers’, presents a method that allows for the measuring of several loudspeakers in a room simultaneously that reduces the measurement time, compared with typical immersive audio systems, by a factor of ten.

Traditional room-equalization involves exciting one loudspeaker at a time and then de-convolving the loudspeaker-room response from the recording. As the number of loudspeakers and positions within a room increases, the time required to measure loudspeaker-room responses therefore also increases. Therefore, SRA’s paper presents a technique to deconvolve impulse responses after exciting all loudspeakers at the same time.

③ Optimizing the Integration of Audio Systems Into Slim TVs (SRA)

Along with the development of new space-efficient display technologies in recent years has come the trend to decrease the overall size of consumer electronics, including televisions. In order to combat the physical limitations for audio technology development brought about by these designs, SRA has produced their AES Top 10-certified paper titled ‘Transducer Design Considerations for Slim TV Applications’.

The slim TV form factor brought about by industry trends creates a challenge for the design of integrated audio systems as it severely limits the physical performance possibilities of any acoustic transducer. For the most part, modern DSP (Digital Signal Processor) and amplifier technologies have been able to utilize the transducer up to its performance limits and thus maintain audio quality. However, if further thickness reduction of the TV is desired, these technologies will no longer be enough. SRA’s paper discusses the physical limits of current designs and suggests a new layout of a moving coil-transducer for ultra-slim device applications.

④ Discovering the Best Audio Codec for HDR10+ (SRA)

As we move into the HDR10+ era, SRA has been conducting research into the preferred audio codec for HDR10+, resulting in this accolade-winning paper, ‘Bitrate Requirements for an Audio Codec for Stereo, Surround and Immersive Formats’.

The paper shows that the Opus codec would be an excellent choice as the preferred audio codec for HDR10+. The team conducted three listening tests on Opus encoded stereo, 5.1 and 7.1.4 channel content taken from music, cinematic and EBU files encoded at bitrates of 32, 48 and 64 kbps per channel. Current Opus encapsulation in Ogg does not support 7.1.4 with stereo pairing. Therefore, the paper proposes a new stereo pairing schema to accommodate 7.1.4 content in Opus with joint stereo encoding. The results of the study conducted indicate that a bit rate of 64 kbps per channel or higher is required for transparency in stereo, but 48 kbps per channel may be sufficient for 5.1 and 7.1.4 audio formats.

⑤ Developing AI-Based 3D Audio Codec for High-Immersion in OTT Service Environment (SR)

As growing trends indicate that users’ preferred media consumption platform has shifted from cinema or broadcast channels to over-the-top (OTT) services, SR’s paper, titled ‘AI 3D Immersive Audio Codec Based on Content-Adaptive Dynamic Down-Mixing and Up-Mixing Framework’, proposes new 3D immersive audio codec that can support various spatial audio formats for multiple loudspeaker layouts accessible in OTT service environments.

Unlike conventional technologies that use a fixed mixing profile regardless of content type and characteristics, SR proposes a framework that variably applies the determined mixing/de-mixing profile by dynamically performing audio scene classification and spatial energy distribution characteristics analysis based on AI technology. It was also shown through a listening evaluation that the proposed one can provide a higher immersion than the conventional method even in a home entertainment OTT service environment.

¹ Samsung Electronics’ advanced R&D hub, which leads the development of future technologies for its Device eXperience division

In this relay series, Samsung Newsroom is introducing tech experts from Samsung’s R&D centers around the globe to hear more about the work they do and the ways in which it is directly improving the lives of consumers.

The sixth and final expert in the series is Brian Harms, a Research Engineer at Samsung Research America (SRA). Following 8 years of exploration into advanced robotics research at SRA, Harms and his team now employ an innovative array of methods in order to work towards changing the way robots are made and perceived. Read on to learn more about the fascinating research Harms and his team are undertaking at SRA.

Q. Can you please briefly introduce the kind of work you undertake at Samsung Research America?

In addition to developing innovative technologies, SRA is conducting research into various fields including AI, 5G/6G communication, Digital Health, AR and Robotics for Samsung’s future innovation.

When I joined SRA, I was drawn to one in particular of my team’s key areas of focus, which was imagining how robots will affect the future of our homes and everyday lives. A lot of my work at SRA focuses on prototyping experiences as rapidly as possible so that we can make decisions about how certain devices or products should or shouldn’t work.

Our projects usually start very organically, and individuals are encouraged to pursue their ideas and then bring them to the team for feedback and creative input. Thanks to our strong relationships with different divisions within Samsung, our team is empowered to think about a really wide variety of ways we can improve people’s lives, and that freedom and support is a really cool aspect of what we do in the Think Tank Team at SRA.

Q. Following the recent accolades you have received for your work in advanced robotics, what are you and your team working on at the moment?

At any one time we may have approximately 10 to 20 projects that are happening simultaneously, but that operate on different time scales and with different resources. In past years our team’s goal was to have the majority of those projects aim to be ‘productizable’ within 3 to 5 years if successful, but in more recent years we have shifted our goal towards 1 to 3 years, as we are striving to make a strong impact on the user-facing market as quickly as possible.

In order to achieve this, we are working on several projects within the umbrella of practical robotics whose scopes are mindfully constrained so that we can work with different teams to transform these prototypes into products. Our goal is to find a balance where we provide a great deal of user value while still constraining the problem space within realistic bounds. We also pride ourselves in being optimistic about finding room for innovation, even in products that have largely remained the same over many years.

Our team is also currently working on many projects that are outside the realm of robotics, including new apps, phone features, connectivity devices and improved appliances with the goal of empowering users and keeping them connected.

Q. Practical robotics is a field that provides innovative and convenient user experiences and is primed to change the way we think about robots. Can you elaborate on this further?

I think that it is important for people to rethink what they consider to be “robots” because the way they are defined tends to vary greatly. Many common definitions might clash with each other or reject some actual robotic devices from the category. Personally, I lean towards an extremely inclusive definition along the lines of: if a machine actuates automatically in response to stimuli, you might as well call it a robot.

The reason I think it is important for people to take a moment to consider what robots really are is that so-called “practical robots” are all around us and affect us every day of our lives in impactful ways. Consider a mattress with sensors that measure sleep quality or temperature, adjust the mattress’ position with actuators and cool the user by pumping fluid through a network of tubes. I think by almost any definition of robot, this is a robot – but perhaps the owner of such a mattress might not actively consider it one.

From automatic doors at grocery stores to cars that measure their distance to other cars and adjust speed accordingly and even to coffee makers that brew a fresh pot of coffee for you in the morning through sensor detection – these are all robots, and if you were to accept this idea of what a robot is, you’ll start seeing them much more frequently in your day-to-day life.

Q. What do you see as the main user benefits brought about by the implementation of novel robot capabilities into consumer-facing technological devices?

The main user benefit brought by the inclusion of robotic technologies in a device will of course vary by device and the problem it solves for the user, but if I had to generalize, I think that the benefits boil down to making an activity or experience faster, easier, safer or more rewarding. Automation is a powerful mechanism in affecting these four criteria, whether it is in an industrial manufacturing plant or someone’s living room.

Q. Your team is made up of a unique range of researchers from a diverse range of backgrounds. Can you give an example of a time when this ability to ideate in an interdisciplinary manner resulted in the development of an innovative new robotics approach or technology?

Occasionally we hold brainstorming sessions where 1 or 2 people have an idea they want to turn into a project. Those people come up with a series of questions or prompts for the participants, and then every person in the room takes a stack of sticky notes and fills as many as they can with ideas and sketches for the new project and puts them all up on the wall. The cool thing about this is that when the prompts are about potential industrial design ideas, for example, we have not only industrial designers, but also programmers, scientists, electrical engineers and more, all responding to the same prompts in different ways.

Through this kind of multidisciplinary collaboration, designers on our team benefit from developing an improved understanding of what is technically possible, and engineers get a better understanding of what constraints good design might add to the project. What this results in is a team made up of designers who speak the language of engineering, and engineers that can speak the language of design. This kind of collaboration was critical for a project like Samsung Bot Chef, where both the aesthetic and engineering elements were highly dependent on one another.

Q. What would you designate as the latest trends in robotics technology right now? How are you incorporating them into your research at SRA?

Automation and robotics are evergreen fields that are growing exponentially at the moment. The main way we approach projects is to first identify a need or possible method of improving some aspect of daily life, and then consider the mechanisms for executing the idea. Fortunately, automation and robotics are effective tools that lend themselves well to addressing and solving some of these problems.

Our future product concept Samsung Bot Chef was one result of us monitoring the latest trends. Our then-team head noticed that there was a huge gap between the kinds of low-cost, low-performance robot arms you might see on crowdfunding platforms and the high-cost, high-performance of industrial robot arms, and had a strong intuition that there was opportunity in the consumer market for a robot offering in between the two. The goal there was to minimize end user cost while maximizing performance and capability, which took us down a long road towards designing our own servo mechanisms from scratch. What we created is one of the best-looking robot arms that I’ve seen on or off the market, that is tailor made for interacting with the same everyday objects that we use at home.

Q. When you envisage a future powered by innovative robotics technologies, what does it look like?

When I picture the future, I try to imagine “what might a typical day look like for me.” I would hope that, in the future, robotics and automation provide opportunities for me to preserve more time for myself to do the activities that I love. Between maintaining relationships, work, hobbies, errands, finding time to rest and unexpected events in life, I constantly feel that I lack the time or energy to engage with each of these activities in balance. I believe that automation might be one mechanism that will help me preserve more of my time so that I can spend it in ways that I choose in order to feel more fulfilled.

Q. What has been your most important achievement at SRA so far, or the one that you are most proud of?

I was really proud of our team achieving our Samsung Bot Chef demonstration in Berlin, Germany at IFA 2019. It truly took a monumental amount of effort for us to design, manufacture and assemble completely new versions of Samsung Bot Chef from the ground up, by hand. We also had to plan a complex demo, program all of the interactions, and test everything repeatedly, not to mention transport our demo robots to Germany, work around the construction of the demo kitchen and collaborate with the host chefs. It was a really challenging but rewarding experience that not only brought our team closer together, but also reminded us that when we are united in pursuit of a single goal we can achieve amazing things.

In this series, Samsung Newsroom has introduced six tech leaders from Samsung R&D Institutes around the world who are actively involved in advanced technology development. Through the consolidation of the research and development capabilities of experts in Samsung’s R&D institutes, just a few of whom have been showcased in this series, Samsung is able to bring next-level technologies and experiences to users in their devices. Samsung Research currently sees collaboration between the experts in its 14 R&D institutes in 12 different countries around the world.

In the future, collaboration will be a key factor towards advancing research into advanced technology. Samsung will continue to work towards a better future powered by innovation, inspired by daily routines and designed for users.

The paper is derived from the Digital Health Lab’s Lung Health project, where the team is developing innovative technologies to help patients with chronic respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or Asthma. The paper particularly focuses on algorithms that allow users to evaluate their lung function on their own without clinical supervision, simply by recording breathing sounds on their smartphones.

“Winning the Best Paper Award at such a competitive venue as the IEEE PerCom testifies to the recognition of our research from leading experts in pervasive computing. I feel fortunate to work in a lung health project that has potential to have an impact on respiratory patients, to support the control over their illness and improve the quality of life,” said Mahbubur Rahman, the first author of the paper who is working as Research Engineer in Digital Health Lab.

Acknowledging the Best Paper Award, PerCom 2020 General Chair and the University of Texas at Austin Professor Christine Julien shared an encouraging note emphasizing the potential impact of the Digital Health Lab’s work on real-world patients. She commented, “Having much more accessible tools for treating this [respiratory] disease would be so incredible. I love that there is this real-world impact of what you’re working on.”

The Digital Health Lab at SRA is partnering with world-leading physicians and advanced health research institutions to develop novel algorithms to make the health monitoring tools accessible anywhere, anytime through smartphones and smartwatches. The Digital Health Lab’s papers have also previously received the Best Poster Award at the IEEE Body Sensor Network (BSN) 2019 conference.

Samsung Research has led the latest effort in expanding the global AI research capabilities of Samsung Electronics and has converged its AI expertise with the creation of the new AI Centers. Samsung Research also oversaw the creation of the new AI Centers in Seoul last November and in Silicon Valley in January. With the addition of the three new AI Centers, Samsung Research will operate five AI Centers around the world.

Also, by securing global AI experts, Samsung Research plans to expand its number of advanced AI researchers to a total of about 1,000 globally by 2020.

“Samsung has a long history of pursuing innovation and we are excited to be bringing that same passion and technology leadership to AI,” said Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research at the opening ceremony of the new AI Center in Cambridge. With the new AI Centers and recruitment of leading experts in the field, our aim is to be a game changer for the AI industry.”

Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research at the opening ceremony of the new AI Center in Cambridge, is giving out a congratulatory address at the AI Center Cambridge, U.K. opening on May 22, 2018.

Top Talent from AI Field to Help Lead New Centers

The Samsung AI Center-Cambridge will be led by Andrew Blake, previously Director of Microsoft’s Cambridge Laboratory, and a pioneer in the development of the theory and algorithms that can make it possible for computers to behave as seeing machines. With cooperation from distinguished experts in the field, such as Professor Maja Pantić (Imperial College), Samsung AI Center-Cambridge will play a pivotal role in advanced AI research for Samsung Research.

Samsung AI Center-Cambridge will be led by Andrew Blake, pictured.

“This new Center signifies our commitment to the advancement of AI,” said Andrew Blake. “Our research will help us to better understand human behavior while exploring areas like emotion recognition, and further expand the boundaries of user-centric communication to develop AI technologies that ultimately improve people’s lives.”

Samsung AI Center-Toronto will be led by Dr. Larry Heck, Senior Vice President of Samsung Research America (SRA), and an expert in virtual personal assistant technologies and also the Leader of the SRA AI Center. The AI Center in Toronto will bolster its research efforts in core AI technologies with strategic cooperation from major universities in Canada.

Samsung AI Center-Moscow is expected to capitalize on Russia’s expertise in mathematics, physics, and other fundamental sciences. It plans to include leading AI experts such as Professor Dmitry Vetrov (Higher School of Economics) and Professor Victor Lempitsky (Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) to lead its research on AI algorithms.

Key Principles Driving Samsung’s AI Vision

In its vision for AI, Samsung focuses on five core aspects to drive its research. These include AI that is: “user-centric,” realizing personalization through a multi-modal interface; “always learning,” through continuous self-learning from data; “always there,” as an ambient service; “always helpful,” with minimization of user intervention and response to requests; and “always safe,” ensuring user safety and privacy. As they work around these focuses, the new AI Centers will leverage cutting-edge research environments along with the regional strengths of the researchers to carry Samsung’s AI capabilities to new heights.

Through ongoing initiatives including hosting an AI Forum last year, Samsung has been cooperating closely with renowned AI scholars in preparing to set up research bases across areas of expertise. Samsung will continue to expand areas of expertise and technology across the globe, including of particular importance, the eastern area of the U.S.

In the coming years, Internet of Things (IoT) devices embedded with AI will generate a vast array of data that can provide fascinating insights about the lives of users, enabling them to take advantage of intelligent services optimized for their own personal preferences and behaviors. How AI-enabled devices provide consumers with the most optimized options will be critical to the success of AI technology for the near future. To provide a user-centric ecosystem, Samsung aims to build an AI platform under a common architecture that will not only scale quickly but also provide the deepest understanding of usage context and behaviors, making AI more relevant and useful.

For more details on Samsung Research and the global AI Centers, please visit the official Samsung Research webpage at http://research.samsung.com.

Attendees at the AI Center in Cambridge, the U.K opening on May 22, 2018 are smiling for a group photo

Nestled among more than 20,000 various types of vegetation across 8.5 acres, the new state-of-the-art research and development center is home to many of the top thought leaders in Silicon Valley. With more than 250 doctorate recipients from some of the best schools around the globe, the campus is a hotbed for creativity and innovation. Collaborating with respected universities such as Stanford, MIT and the University of California, Berkeley, boosts SRA’s recruitment efforts by enabling them to scout fresh prospects before they graduate.

This may make the new campus sound somewhat stuffy in terms of atmosphere, but this is far from accurate. The laid-back California vibe can typically be experienced throughout the entire campus. On any given day, it’s possible to see employees engaged in a friendly game of soccer on the Great Lawn, dogs roaming around the offices or colleagues enjoying lunch on the veranda just outside the cafeteria. These aspects of life on the Mountain View campus show why SRA is a leader in providing a collaborative work environment.

The campus also features a number of environmentally friendly touches. There are 48 electric vehicle charging stations on the campus—more than any other Samsung campus in the United States—which are in use close to 100 percent of normal business hours. Employees are also offered composting options, which helps SRA in its efforts to minimize its impact on the environment.

But to fully understand the role the new campus plays in SRA’s tale, one must understand research – the element that lies at the core of everything the campus strives to accomplish. The Mountain View campus serves as the SRA headquarters, but houses many employees from other Samsung groups such as Samsung Electronics America and the Global Innovation Center. The primary focus areas of employees here are software and design, but the group spans more than 15 research labs—each with different missions—from Silicon Valley to Dallas. The great successes of these labs benefit Samsung’s vast portfolio of mobile, visual display, home appliance, wearable and audio and stereo products.

All of this innovation begins at the new Mountain View campus—where advanced research is the key to the next generation of discovery.