Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Castellanos speaks with research affiliate Matthias Winkenbach about plans to develop a new lab at MIT that would allow researchers to experiment with computer-generated hologram-like images and interactive touch-screen walls. “AR can be a game changer in data and analytics because it’s so much more immersive,” explains Winkenbach.
A new system developed by MIT researchers can predict how a scene will unfold, similar to how humans can visually imagine the future, reports Ed Gent for Scientific American. Graduate student Carl Vondrick explains that the system is “an encouraging development in suggesting that computer scientists can imbue machines with much more advanced situational understanding."
Steven Melendez of NBC News writes that a new system developed by CSAIL researchers can predict the future by examining a photograph. Grad student Carl Vondrick explains that the system’s ability to forecast normal behavior could allow it to be used for applications like self-driving cars.
New Scientist reporter Victoria Turk writes that MIT researchers have developed a system that can predict the future based off of a still image. Turk writes that the system could enable “an AI assistant to recognize when someone is about to fall, or help a self-driving car foresee an accident.”
In an article about food allergies for WBUR’s Bostonomix site, Rachel Zimmerman spotlights the Nima gluten tester, a portable device developed by two MIT graduates that can detect gluten in foods within minutes. The device “can detect gluten in concentrations as low as 20 parts per million,” Zimmerman explains.
Scott Clement of The Washington Post writes that researchers at the Laboratory for Social Machines have found that while the majority of Twitter conversation concerning the presidential campaign has centered around Donald Trump over the past week and a half, “battlegrounds differed in what particular issues or themes they focused on.”
To encourage safer driving in Boston, Mayor Martin Walsh has announced a competition that uses a smartphone app developed by MIT startup Cambridge Telematics to reward driver performance, reports Dante Ramos for The Boston Globe. The app gives motorists “star ratings if they stay off their phones; drive at reasonable speeds; and brake, accelerate, and turn carefully.”
In this video, CNN spotlights how researchers from MIT’s Senseable City Lab have developed a robot, named Luigi, to collect bacteria from the sewers in an effort to better understand public health. "Sewers represent a unique opportunity where health data from everybody in a community is pooled together,” explains Prof. Eric Alm.
MIT researchers have developed a new algorithm to create videos from still images, writes G. Clay Whittaker for Popular Science. “The system "learns" types of videos (beach, baby, golf swing...) and, starting from still images, replicates the movements that are most commonly seen in those videos,” Whittaker explains.
Emma Grey Ellis writes for Wired that MIT researchers are aiming to get a better grasp on public health in cities around the world by analyzing the microbes in sewage systems using a robot dubbed Luigi. Wilson explains that sewage “carries drug metabolites, DNA, even biomarkers for diabetes—and all that data is available in real time.”
MIT researchers have developed a new system for protecting patient privacy in genomic databases, reports Anna Nowogrodzki for Nature. The system “masks the donor's identity by adding a small amount of noise, or random variation, to the results it returns on a user’s query,” Nowogrodzki explains.
Prof. Alex “Sandy” Pentland speaks with Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s On Point, about his study examining friendship. “If you’re trying to lose weight…50 percent of the time you are likely to reach out to people who really actually aren’t going to help that much,” Pentland explains, adding that people should be looking to mutual friendships for support.
A team of MIT researchers has received an EPA grant to install a network of air quality sensors to study Hawaii’s volcanic smog, reports Greenwire’s Sean Reilly. The sensors will provide residents with real-time information as well as “a data set that can be used to explore pollutant variability and other topics,” explains Reilly.
The EPA has awarded a team of MIT researchers a grant to create a network of low-cost, air pollution sensors, according to the Associated Press. The network will test and track emissions from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, which emits high levels of sulfur dioxide, reducing air quality and negatively impacting human health and crops.
Prof. Jonathan How speaks with Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear about how researchers from MIT and Ford are collaborating on a new project aimed at better understanding vehicle mobility and demand in dense urban areas. The project will allow researchers to “investigate new planning and prediction algorithms in a complex, but controlled, environment,” explains How.