AlterEgo, a device developed by Media Lab graduate student Arnav Kapur, “can transcribe words that wearers verbalise internally but do not say out loud, using electrodes attached to the skin,” writes Samuel Gibbs of The Guardian. “Kapur and team are currently working on collecting data to improve recognition and widen the number of words AlterEgo can detect.”
Emily Matchar of Smithsonian details research out of the Media Lab, which seeks to help both autonomous and standard vehicles avoid obstacles in heavy fog conditions. “You’d see the road in front of you as if there was no fog,” says graduate student and lead researcher Guy Satat. “[O]r the car would create warning messages that there’s an object in front of you.”
Researchers at the Media Lab have developed a device, known as “AlterEgo,” which allows an individual to discreetly query the internet and control devices by using a headset “where a handful of electrodes pick up the miniscule electrical signals generated by the subtle internal muscle motions that occur when you silently talk to yourself,” writes Rob Verger for Popular Science.
Squadbox, developed by graduate student Amy Zhang, allows a user’s “squad” to sift through online messages and scan for contextual harassment language that software might miss. “Squadbox currently only works with email,” Shannon Liao writes for The Verge. “[B]ut the team behind it hopes to eventually expand to other social media platforms.”
Graduate student Amy Zhang, has developed an application, known as Squadbox, that seeks to disarm internet harassers by enlisting the help of a user’s friends, who act as inbox “moderators.” “According to what the harassed person has specified beforehand, the moderator can delete any abusive messages, forward on clean messages, or send along messages with tags,” writes Katharine Schwab for Co.Design.
A new headset developed by graduate student Arnav Kapur reads the small muscle movements in the face that occur when the wearer thinks about speaking, and then uses “artificial intelligence algorithms to decipher their meaning,” writes Chelsea Whyte for New Scientist. Known as AlterEgo, the device “is directly linked to a program that can query Google and then speak the answers.”
MIT Media Lab researchers have created a system that can detect obstacles through fog that are not visible to the human eye, writes Darren Weaver for CNBC. “The goal is to integrate the technology into self-driving cars so that even in bad weather, the vehicles can avoid obstacles,” explains Warren.
Experts believe that DropBox, founded by EECS alums Drew Houston ’05 and Arash Ferdowsi ’08, may forge a path for more “unicorn” startups, writes Kate Gibson for CBS News Money Watch. “Demand for its shares is an indication that investors aren't overly worried about rival providers of cloud-storage services, including Microsoft, Google and Amazon.”
A recent study from Media Lab graduate student Joy Buolamwini addresses errors in facial recognition software that create concern for civil liberties. “If programmers are training artificial intelligence on a set of images primarily made up of white male faces, their systems will reflect that bias,” writes Cristina Quinn for WGBH.
MIT researchers have developed a new imaging system that could allow autonomous vehicles to see through dense fog, writes Andrew Liszewski of Gizmodo. The laser-based system, which used a new processing algorithm, was able “to clearly see objects 21 centimeters further away than human eyes could discern,” Liszewski writes.
Nellie Bowles of The New York Times writes about Dropbox CEO Drew Houston ’05, one of the few tech startup founders who stayed with their company from inception to its initial public offering. “Founders like him [typically] get pushed aside for someone with a finance or management background,” said Jeffrey Mann, a VP at research firm Gartner. “But he managed to stay there.”
Colleges and tech companies are beginning to use blockchain technology to develop “trustworthy, quickly verifiable digital diplomas and résumés,” writes Henry Williams of The Wall Street Journal. MIT recently started issuing blockchain diplomas in addition to traditional ones, which provides “the ability to give the student stewardship over their own records,” says Registrar and Senior Associate Dean Mary Callahan.
Alumnus Mark Ethier ’01 talks to NECN’s Brian Burnell about his startup, iZotope, that allows musicians of all levels to record professional grade audio. “I was a passionate musician, who wanted to make recordings, and I understood the technology, but the tools out there were really complicated,” Ethier said.
AI leader SenseTime is the first company to join the MIT Intelligence Quest since its launch, writes Xinhua editor Xiang Bo. “As the largest provider of AI algorithms in China, we are very excited to work with MIT to lead global AI research into the next frontier,” said Xu Li, CEO of SenseTime.
Veil, an incognito browsing system developed at CSAIL, can eliminate trace evidence of internet usage. “Veil takes things further than perhaps any other anonymous browsing method by masking the page you’re viewing not just from would-be attackers, but from your own operating system,” writes Devin Coldewey of TechCrunch.