Samsung Electronics has opened a new Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Tel Aviv this week, underscoring the South Korean company’s growing interest in Israeli innovation.

Samsung GlC was launched in 2013 as an early-stage technology investment program. The tech giant already has GIC offices in New York, San Francisco, Seoul, and Silicon Valley.

“Tel Aviv has more talented engineers per square foot than anywhere in the world,” Kai Bond, general manager and CEO of Samsung Global Innovation Center in New York, told Bloomberg.

Samsung Next celebrated an official launch on September 28 at the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival.

Their booth at the annual tech event included a virtual reality roller coaster ride using Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus, seen in the video embedded below.

Samsung’s new Tel Aviv center – located at the Sarona complex — will invest in artificial intelligence, cyber security, and augmented and virtual reality.

(via Israel21c)

[Photo: Kenny Louie / WikiCommons ]