WSJ has a report on innovative European companies:
Abmi is building a gadget to provide real-time monitoring of the tiny particles that clog brain arteries and trigger strokes. The Swiss company hopes ultimately to make a user-friendly device that might be easily carried in a pocket.
Raphael Bachmann was stunned by the limitations of an early handwriting-recognition device, so he decided to come up with his own software. Enter SpeedScript, a postage stamp-size product that aims to be a simple and fast way of writing on touchscreens.
Siemens seeks to make phones, computers and PDAs act as if they’re all parts of a common system. Business and private users eventually would be able to use these tools across private business networks and via the public phone networks.
A University of Fribourg team has developed a laser device that could lead to a radical change in heart diagnosis. The device, used to measure the heart’s magnetic field, is likely to be considerably cheaper than existing technology.
Prous Science’s voice-recognition system can distinguish between inflections and accents without training — a Holy Grail for the business. The technology eventually could allow for audio-visual searches of the Internet.
Most people know LEDs as indicator lights in mobile phones and digital video recorders rather than for their ability to light up a room. Lumileds is trying to change this notion.
PocketThis offers a way to let you store information from the Web on your mobile phone. This enables users to make information found on the Internet or stored on a PC portable.
Acaris thinks it has come up with a solution for asthma sufferers battling house dust mites. It’s a handheld device that measures levels of HDMs. After identifying “hot spots” of concentrated HDMs, Acaris then advises on how to rid the house of them.
Drugs are usually tested on animals first, before three phases of clinical trials in people. Xceleron cuts out the animal stage, instead putting a microscopic dose straight into people.
Cambridge InnoVision’s software turns photos generated by a digital camera into a detailed 3-D image. The technology has attracted interest from museums, which could use the camera to document and display artifacts.
The award winners:
Gold Winner: Abmi SA, Switzerland
Silver Winner: SpeedScript Ltd., Switzerland
Bronze Winner: Siemens IC Networks, Germany
Honorable Mention: University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Innovation+T
