Sony is heading toward its sixth annual net loss in seven years. Its top executives have returned their bonuses because of the lackluster performance. But the Japanese electronics maker is continuing to increase its spending on research and development, to 485 billion yen ($4.78 billion) this fiscal year, a 4% rise from the previous year. Some of that money goes to fund the dozens of high-concept projects at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (CSL), a small research arm created in 1988 and housed mostly in a rented two-floor office near Sony's Tokyo headquarters. With the company desperate for a megahit on the order of 1979's Walkman, CSL has become an increasingly popular destination for executives seeking ideas, including Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai, who visited last summer. However, the projects at CSL often take a decade of development or more before they're ready for the market.