Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL) is a gathering of outstanding individual researchers, grounded in the principle that each Sony CSL researcher sets their own goals and carries out research based on their own understanding of the challenges involved, and that all research findings are published in the name of the individual researcher. Sony CSL sees itself as a research institute that supports such creators and values their authorship. This stance is also connected to the overall purpose of the Sony Group as of 2025: “Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology.”
Over many years since its inception, Sony CSL had operated under the SONY name without its own corporate logo. The first dedicated logo (company mark) was created in 2017. This logo was designed by combining the seven primitive elements that represent the components of Sony CSL’s research concept, each of which overlaps and connects to weave innumerable patterns into a design that symbolizes a view of scientific fields that stretches into the future.
The new logo enabled researchers to clearly identify their affiliation in conference presentation materials and other outside activities, and this helped solidify Sony CSL’s presence as an organization. Moreover, in addition to supporting its individual researchers, Sony CSL itself now had its own corporate identity and could play a role in enhancing its international presence.
Behind these developments is Global Influence Projection, an action guideline conceived by Sony CSL President Hiroaki Kitano. This action guideline has led researchers to not only publishing their research results, but also to work to bring about their own social impacts and directly change the world.
We have also been pursuing evolution through a new organizational form. Sony CSL-Kyoto and Sony CSL-Rome were founded in 2019 and 2022, respectively, and each has developed its research activities with true independence and a regional character. In 2023, the Tokyo research lab also split into Tokyo Research and Transboundary Research, with the latter in particular developing new research styles that are unfettered by location.
With these moves, Sony CSL is not a corporate-type organization that advances as a whole toward some targeted value. Some of our researchers have ambitious moonshot goals, while others continue to explore from their own unique perspectives and come up with results in the process. And what ultimately will be the value of their research? That is something for future history to evaluate.
The components of Sony CSL's research concept are represented by seven primitive elements: Energy, Wave, Time, Life, Language, Intelligence, and Binary, each of which is symbolized by a simple shape that serves as a core element in the overall design. Energy, Wave, Time, Life, Language, Intelligence, and Binary, each symbolized by a simple shape.