Prof. Hugh Herr speaks with Breanna Draxler of Popular Science about the future of bionics. Herr explains that he is “intrigued by the possibility of embedding humanity—our ideas and our creativity—into designable bodies. The artificial limbs we create can be just as beautiful and expressive as our own bodies made of innate cells.”
Researchers from the MIT Media Lab have developed a new type of clothing that becomes more breathable as the wearer’s body heat increases, reports Liz Stinson for Wired. The clothing was developed as part of a project focused on examining how, “we can grow actuators that control the interfaces around us instead of manufacturing them in a factory.”
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers examines if consumers would be comfortable buying a self-driving car programmed for utilitarianism, reports Sarah Kaplan for The Washington Post. The researchers found that “participants largely agreed autonomous vehicles should be utilitarian, they didn’t necessarily believe the cars would be programmed that way.”
In honor of “Back to the Future II,” in which Marty McFly travels 30 years into the future, BBC reporter Jane O’Brien speaks with Media Lab Director Joi Ito about how technology might advance over the next 30 years. Ito says that his “dream invention is machine learning artificial intelligence that connects directly to my brain in some non-invasive way.”
Forbes reporter Jennifer Hicks writes about MIT spinoff EyeNetra, which is developing a self-diagnostic eye test could lead to customized, virtual-reality screens. “EyeNetra’s technology measures how a user’s optical refractive errors will affect how they see patterns on a digital display, just like a VR headset,” Hicks explains.
Dan Morrell of The Boston Globe writes about Humanyze, a company founded by visiting scientist Ben Waber, that helps companies gather data about their employees and workspaces to improve efficiency. “Humanyze was founded on the idea that smart management decisions require hundreds of (data-points), if not millions,” Morrell explains.
In an article for Wired, Cara McGoogan writes about Prof. Hiroshi Ishii’s vision for the future of technology. We need to "envision what kind of future we want to create," explains Ishii. "To inspire people, to make them think differently. Art is so important as a driving force."
Liz Stinson reports for Wired on Kinetic Blocks, a shape-shifting display developed by MIT researchers that uses 900 computer-controlled pins to manipulate objects. “Hopefully in the future this can be a big versatile engine you can use to control whatever you like,” explains paper co-author Philipp Schoessler.
MIT researchers have been awarded a new NSF grant to develop robots that can serve as reading companions for children, reports Lindsey Kratochwill for Popular Science. The study, led by Prof.Cynthia Breazeal, aims to advance the fields of autonomous storytelling and human-robot interaction.
Researchers from MIT’s Camera Culture Group have devised a way for cameras to see through walls and bad weather, reports Vijee Venkatraman for BetaBoston. “It is not meant to be the next camera for consumers — the idea is to help with imaging in dangerous conditions, and to help with non-destructive testing,” writes Venkatraman.
Prof. Ramesh Raskar is leading the development of a new platform aimed at maintaining order and calm during the Kumbh Mela festival, the AP reports. "We want to see how we can take this amazing challenge in crowds and food and security and housing and transportation ... and see how we can make this a tech-savvy Kumbh Mela,” says Raskar.
Jon Christian reports for The Boston Globe on FitSocket, a device created by researchers in MIT’s Biomechatronics group that gathers data used to create personalized prosthetic sockets. “We’re treating the body as a mechanical thing, because it is,” explains graduate student Arthur Petron.
In an article for Wired, Liz Stinson writes about how the new technique MIT researchers developed for 3-D printing glass could be used in building design. Stinson writes that Prof. Neri Oxman believes, “3-D printed glass eventually will make building facades far more dynamic.”
Forbes contributor TJ McCue writes about how MIT researchers have developed a 3-D printer that can manufacture glass. McCue explains that the printer uses, “many of the same controllers and parts that existing Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers use.”
Principal Research Scientist Ethan Zuckerman writes for Fortune about whether the rise of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft could portend a revival of hitchhiking. “Social serendipity is too important an activity to be left to the advertising slogans of sharing-economy startups in the hope that they will make it happen as a side benefit,” Zuckerman writes.