industry contributions

Listed below are some of PARC's commercial clients -- public ones only -- as well as ventures (spinoffs, joint ventures, licensing partnerships) with key PARC contributions. Our rich legacy of innovation has enabled the creation of over 30 new businesses.

 

future networking technology

Building on their relationship from other joint hardware and software projects over the past 5 years, Samsung & PARC recently entered into a new engagement targeted at advancing the state of the art in future communications and networking technologies. PARC is one of the partners of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, focused on helping the company achieve its mission of leading the digital convergence movement.

 

 

natural language search

related area
Natural Language Processing

Powerset, Inc., which licenses PARC natural-language technology for its breakthrough consumer search engine, was acquired by Microsoft in July 2008.

 

 

second-generation low-cost solar concentrator (CPV) design

related areas
Optical Systems

SolFocus, Inc., which licenses PARC solar concentrator technology and was incubated at PARC until July 2007, has received $MM funding from New Enterprise Associates, Moser Baer India, Metasystem Group, NGEN Partners, Yellowstone Capital, David Gelbaum, other investors.

 

 

text analytics & visualization

related areas
Information Visualization & Sensemaking
Natural Language Processing

Inxight Software, Inc., which was spun out by PARC to provide innovative solutions for unstructured information discovery across 32 languages, was acquired by Business Objects in May 2007 (which in turn was acquired by SAP in October 2007/ January 2008). Customers include AOL, Morgan Stanley, Novartis, Thomson, Department of Defense, more.

 

 

digital rights management (DRM)

related area
Information & Communication Technologies

ContentGuard, which was founded on Xerox PARC DRM technologies, was acquired by Microsoft, Time Warner, and Thomson in 2005. Its licensees include Sanyo, Nokia, Sharp, Zinio, and others.

 

 

embedding digital data through DataGlyphs®

related area
Image Recognition

PARC DataGlyphs® (see milestones) are a robust and unobtrusive method of embedding computer-readable data on a variety of surfaces. Unlike most barcodes, DataGlyphs are flexible in shape and size. Their structure and robust error correction also make them suitable for curved surfaces and other situations where barcodes fail.

Microglyph® Codes for Industrial Applications
more about Microglyph

Microglyph Technology GmbH, a provider of customized auto-ID solutions headquartered in Germany, licensed basic PARC patents  to form the foundation of their proprietary Microglyph® code. Microglyph developed code structures and algorithms that open up new fields of applications in industrial environments. Directly marked on parts or products, or discreetly integrated into packaging designs, the robust codes enable reliable auto-ID solutions when matrix-codes or barcodes fail. Microglyph® codes are applied in various industrial sectors -- including automotive, food- and-beverages, and medical -- for track and trace purposes, and to protect brands and products from counterfeiting.

 

 

displays (poly-silicon and amorphous silicon thin-film transistor) and digital image sensing for medical imaging

related areas
Thin-Film Technologies
Flexible & Large-Area Electronics

Xerox PARC spinoff dPix, the world's leading source for high-resolution amorphous silicon (a-Si) sensor arrays, was acquired by Trixell (a Siemens Medical/ Phillips Medical/ Thomson-CSF joint venture), Planar Systems, and Varian Medical in 1999. dPix a-Si technology provides the foundation for medical, industrial, military, and security X-ray imaging.

 

 

document-management processes

related area
Enterprise Collaboration & Knowledge Systems

Enterprise content management provider Documentum, which was created with Xerox PARC, was acquired by EMC in 2003 to become EMC Documentum. The platform allows customers to manage, store, secure, and deliver unstructured content in a systematic manner.

 

 

electronic reusable paper (e-paper)

related area
Electronics Design & Prototyping

Xerox continues to license e-paper display technology after closing subsidiary Gyricon LLC in 2005.

 

 

portable document reader

Xerox PARC spinoff Uppercase, Inc. was acquired by Microsoft Corporation.

 

 

web-based meeting and presentation solution

related area
Context-Aware Computing & Mobile Interaction

Based on web-based collaboration technology developed and tested at Xerox PARC, Placeware was acquired by Microsoft in 2003 to become LiveMeeting.

 

 

personalized search technology

related area
Information Visualization & Sensemaking

Group Fire (later Outride, Inc.), a spin-off from Xerox PARC, was created to apply state-of-the-art model-based relevance technology to the challenge of online information retrieval. Google acquired the technology assets of Outride Inc. in 2001.

 

 

book scanning technology

related area
Image Recognition

Xerox PARC licensee Kirtas Technologies, a pioneer in high-quality digitization, is known for its patented automatic book scanners, software, and services which reduce the cost and overhead of mass digitization.

 

 

electronic whiteboard technology & group conferencing/ collaborative meeting tools

related area
Context-Aware Computing & Mobile Interaction

Xerox PARC spinoff LiveWorks' technology assets were acquired by SMART Technologies, the industry pioneer and market-segment leader in easy-to-use interactive whiteboards and other group collaboration tools, which enable groups to access and share the information they need.

 

 

Smalltalk object-oriented programming language

related area
Information & Communication Technologies

Xerox PARC spinoff ParcPlace Systems (which became ObjectShare) had its VisualWorks business unit acquired by Cincom Systems in 1999.

 

 

Ethernet fiber optics

related area
Networking

Xerox PARC spinoff Synoptics Communications (later Bay Networks) was acquired by Nortel in 1998.

 

 

spell-checking software & linguistic data compression

related area
Natural Language Processing

This Xerox PARC technology was commercialized through Microlytics in 1995.

 

 

solid-state lasers

related area
Optoelectronic Emitters & Detectors

Xerox PARC's solid-state lasers work led to Spectra Diode Laboratories (later SDL), which was acquired by JDS Uniphase.

 

 

non-erasable magneto-optical storage

Xerox PARC commercialized this technology through Optimem (1980), which later became Cipher Data Products.