Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes about the affordable wheelchair made out of bike parts developed by Prof. Amos Winter. Winter and his team have now created a second wheelchair that allows riders to “navigate ski slopes and bike trails.”
Caitlin Dewey writes for The Washington Post about MIT startup Charitweet, which aims to make supporting charitable causes easier. “Ecommerce has just made it so easy for me to send money, except when it comes to giving. … Why should donating to charity be harder than buying something on Amazon?” says Charitweet co-founder Charles Huang.
Liz Stinson reports for Wired on a new wearable device that can predict seizures developed by the MIT spinoff Empatica. The device, dubbed Embrace, is the product of years of research by Professor Rosalind Picard and her team. “Like fitness-focused wearables, the device tells time and keeps tabs on metrics like physical activity and sleep,” Stinson explains.
Jennifer Hicks of Forbes writes that MIT startup Empatica has developed a wearable device that can monitor for epileptic seizures. The device contains “an event detector which sends an alert when the user’s electrodermal response reaches a pre set level they customize based on their history and health profile; and a diary app which helps monitor and manage everyday routines.”
CNBC reporter Hailey Lee writes about the startup Saathi, which was founded by MIT alumna Amrita Saigal to empower rural women by giving them access to sanitary pads and economic opportunity. "We want to be invested in the entirety of the village—we want to see how Saathi improves socioeconomic status, girls' school attendance, female employment and income," explains Saigal.
MIT alumnus Dave Smith speaks with Anthony Brooks of WBUR about his company, LiquiGlide. LiquiGlide makes a substance that coats the surface on the inside of containers, reducing friction and allowing fluids to slide out more easily.
In a piece for Scientific American, Ryan Bradley examines how MIT researchers have developed a new method to control cells by squeezing them. The work, which is being commercialized as a company called SQZ Biotech, was named one of 10 World Changing ideas by Scientific American.
Caroline Fairchild of Fortune speaks with Professor Cynthia Brazeal about women and entrepreneurship. “The world would certainly be a better place if we had more women entrepreneurs,” says Breazeal. “Women are going to bring a different angle to startups.”
Klint Finley reports for Wired on Carduino, a device created by MIT graduate student Josh Siegel that allows users to customize their cars. “This tiny device plugs into an automobile diagnostics port, letting you equip your car with all sorts of tools you otherwise couldn’t,” Finley explains.
Pilita Clark of the Financial Times writes about the battery developed by Dr. Qichao Hu and Professor Donald Sadoway that can extend the driving range and lower the cost of an electric car. The new battery can store “twice as much energy as conventional [battery] cells,” Clark reports.
Professors Thomas Allen and Rory O’Shea write for Bloomberg Businessweek about the ways in which other institutions can imitate MIT’s success in spurring innovation. At MIT “[s]tudents learn to experiment, take risks, tolerate failure, and strive to overcome obstacles,” they write.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes that eyeMITRA, a new system developed by Professor Ramesh Raskar’s Camera Culture group, is a finalist in the Nokia Sensing XChallenge. The system monitors a wide range of health conditions by taking pictures of the retina. “Your eyes are a window into your health,” says Raskar.
Hannah Kulcher writes for The Financial Times about Jibo, a family robot created by Professor Cynthia Breazeal. “We call it the world’s first family robot as it is really about engagement with people; more like a helpful partner, rather than being a tool,” says Breazeal.
In an article about new technologies that read people’s desires, Colin Barras of BBC News highlights MIT startup Affectiva, which uses computer programs to judge people’s reactions.
Sacha Pfeiffer and Lynn Jolicoeur of WBUR report on Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a company founded by MIT Professor Hari Balakrishnan to help improve driver safety. The company developed an app that “automatically detects when you’re in the car and driving, it detects when you’ve stopped driving, and then it provides feedback to you,” Pfeiffer and Jolicoeur report.