Photos: Inside IBM's Zurich research lab

Optical technology could also be used to improve signalling performance. Dr Christoph Berger, a Zurich specialist in this area, demonstrated the theories and practice of optical devices.

This is a four-way, optical interconnect unit. Mountings for two processors are shown with space for two more.

The processors sit on the mounts. If you attach a microprocessor to a mounting and optical cables to both the input and an output, it is possible to look down one cable and see through the other.

Showing the capability to see one's own hand through a cable that compresses down to run across a microprocessor is one of the more eye-catching (no pun intended) demonstrations at the IBM Zurich laboratory.