A feedback system developed by CSAIL researchers allows humans to correct a robot’s mistakes using brain signals, writes Janet Burns for Forbes. The system could be used as a “communication method for those who can't use verbal means, such as immobilized or even 'locked in' victims of paralysis,” explains Burns.
MIT researchers have developed a device that allows humans to guide robots using brainwaves, reports Clive Cookson for the Financial Times. The prototype brain-computer interface “enables a human observer to transmit an immediate error message to a robot, telling it to fix a mistake when it does something wrong.”
New Scientist reporter Matt Reynolds writes that MIT researchers have developed a new brain-computer interface that enables people to correct robots’ mistakes using brain signals. “We’re taking baby steps towards having machines learn about us, and having them adjust to what we think,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL.
Nima, a startup founded by alumni Shireen Yates and Scott Sundvor, has been named to CNBC’s list of 25 promising start-ups for its portable food allergy detector, reports Ashley McHugh-Chiappone. “I just wanted a quick, easy way to test a piece of the dish and see for myself if it was gluten-free," says Yates of her inspiration for the device.
Daniel Akst of The Wall Street Journal writes about the wearable device developed by CSAIL researchers that can detect the emotional tone of a conversation. The researchers “are pushing the boundaries by training a computer to take account of such a wide range of factors in making judgments about emotion,” writes Akst.
Science Friday reporter Ira Flatow and Motherboard reporter Daniel Oberhaus discuss a wearable device developed by CSAIL researchers that can detect the emotional tone of a conversation. Oberhaus explains that the researchers hope the device could one day be “applied with much finer emotional granularity, to the point where you can tell if the story was exciting or funny.”
Researchers at MIT have designed a new living material infused with cells that could one day be used as a wearable sensor, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. The researchers used the new material to “design gloves and bandages that light up when they come in contact with target chemicals.”
Dan Misener of CBC News writes that a wearable device developed by MIT researchers detects the tone of conversation by listening to the interaction and measuring the physiological responses of the user. “All of that data is fed into a neural network that's been trained to identify certain cues,” explains Misener.
CSAIL researchers have developed a wearable system that can gauge the tone of a conversation based on a person’s speech patterns and vitals with 83 percent accuracy, writes Brian Barrett for Wired. The system could be useful for people with social anxiety or Asperger’s, Barrett explains.
Hallie Smith writes for Boston Magazine that CSAIL researchers have developed a system that can help detect of the tone of a conversation. The system could be especially useful “for those who struggle with emotional and social cues, such as individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome,” Smith explains.
MIT researchers have developed a sensor capable of detecting single protein molecules, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The sensor could be used “to aid efforts to better understand disease and develop drugs. The array could even help scientists engineer human cells to produce therapeutic proteins.”
In this video, Wired spotlights how Prof. Michael Strano and his team developed spinach plants that can detect explosives in groundwater. Strano explains that in the future he thinks people will be “surprised about what you can do with a living plant.”
MIT researchers have found similarities in how the brains of babies and adults respond to visual information, reports Courtney Humphries for The Atlantic. “Every region that we knew about in adults [with] a preference for faces or scenes has that same preference in babies 4 to 6 months old,” explains Prof. Rebecca Saxe.
FOX 25 reporter Elizabeth Hopkins visited the lab of Prof. Michael Strano to learn more about his nanobionic spinach plant research. "What we've done is we've transformed a living plant into a chemical sensor,” Strano says.
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.