Scott Eisen of the Associated Press explores a new motion-tracking device developed by MIT researchers that can detect movement using wireless signals. "It's a sensor that can monitor people and allow you to control devices just by pointing at them," explains graduate student Fadel Adib.
In an article for Boston Magazine, Lauren Landry writes about MIT startup TVision, which has developed a secure, anonymous device to track how viewers watch programming. “Television and the way we consume video content is shifting,” explains co-founder Dan Schiffman. “And the way we measure that is shifting.”
Prof. Carlo Ratti writes about the proliferation of startup hubs around the world in this piece for Project Syndicate. “Before long, the digital world and the physical world will be indistinguishable,” writes Ratti. “The era of ‘Silicon Everywhere’ is upon us – and it is taking shape in the world’s cities.”
Boston Herald reporter Jessica Van Sack writes that Grove, an MIT startup dedicated to enabling people to grow their own produce, will award five of its indoor garden/fish tank systems to local schools. “When you have a full ecological system, it becomes more than just planting seeds and watching them grow,” explains co-founder Gabe Blanchet.
Lauren Landry writes for Boston Magazine about MIT startup Lumii, which is developing glasses-free 3-D technology. Our vision is that, one day, you will take out your phone and you’ll see a 3-D, interactive hologram popping out of it,” says co-founder Tom Baran. “You won’t need to wear those goofy glasses.”
A new study from MIT’s Industrial Performance Center finds that while Massachusetts is successfully launching and growing new startups, the state has a shortage of “super-scale” companies, reports Hiawatha Bray for BetaBoston. Bray explains that the report “calls for public- and private-sector efforts to foster the development of bigger businesses in the Bay State.”
A new report details the entrepreneurial impact of MIT’s alumni entrepreneurs, reports Hiawatha Bray for BetaBoston. “We’re seeing a more rapid rate of growth than we have ever seen before,” explains Prof. Edward Roberts, in the “growth in the formation and startup of new companies by MIT alumni.”
In this video, CBS Boston’s Bree Sison reports on MIT startup Affectiva, which is developing technology that can identify human emotions and could help with mental health. Rana el Kaliouby, Affectiva CSO and co-founder, explains that the technology could “tell you something is off, or flag it to a friend or doctor. Or maybe it could customize a digit experience to help you.”
In an article for U.S. News & World Report about innovations for seniors, Teresa Mears reports that MIT researchers are developing a shirt that can sense a heart attack and administer CPR. While “such a shirt is [probably] 15 years away, shirts with sensors are already on the market, used primarily by athletes,” writes Mears.
In this video, CBS News correspondent Don Dahler speaks with Prof. Dina Katabi about her group’s work developing wireless technology that can track a person’s motion through walls. Katabi and her colleagues demonstrated how the system also detects a person’s elevation and could be used to help protect seniors at risk of falling.
Los Angeles Times reporter Evan Halper speaks with MIT Corporation member and alumna Leslie Dewan, co-founder of Transatomic Power, about nuclear energy and climate change. “I became a nuclear engineer because I am an environmentalist,” said Dewan. “The world needs a cheap source of carbon-free power.”
Paula Ebben of WBZ News reports on Testive, an MIT startup that helps students prepare for the SAT and ACT through free online materials. “Making educational resources freely available is really important because that levels the playing field,” explains co-founder and MIT alumnus Tom Rose.
Atlantic reporter April Wolfe writes that three MIT materials science and engineering students have developed a washing machine filter that recycles 95% of laundry wastewater. The device filters “the small amount of waste and recycles the clean water and detergent for further cleaning cycles.”
Bloomberg Business reporter Chris Martin writes about MIT startup Cambrian Innovation, which is using microbes to transform wastewater into clean water and energy. Martin explains that the system developed by Cambrian “uses bio-engineered microbes that consume much of the contaminants in wastewater and belch out methane.”
Emily Price writes for The Guardian about MIT research scientist Caleb Harper’s work to develop sustainable, urban agriculture. “Depending on how you eat, about 30-40% of your diet could be produced urban or peri-urban and would be a lot better for you if it was,” says Harper.