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Research
Biomechatronics

Enhancing human physical capability
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Affective Computing

Advancing human wellbeing by developing new ways to communicate, understand, and respond to emotion
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Fluid Interfaces

Designing Systems for Cognitive Augmentation
Project Research

OctoStudio

OctoStudio is a free coding app available at octostudio.orgOctoStudio transforms how young people use mobile phones and tablets, enabl…
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Opera of the Future

Extending expression, learning, and health through innovations in musical composition, performance, and participation
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Multisensory Intelligence

Creating human-AI symbiosis across scales and sensory mediums to enhance productivity, creativity, and wellbeing
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Space Exploration Initiative

Designing, prototyping, and building the artifacts of our sci-fi space future
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RAISE

Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education: promoting equity in learning, education, + computational action to prepare diverse K-12
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Community Biotechnology

Empowering communities through the life sciences + biotechnology
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Lifelong Kindergarten

Engaging people in creative learning experiences
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Personal Robots

Building intelligent personified technologies that collaborate with people to help them learn, thrive, and flourish.
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Human Dynamics

Exploring how social networks can influence our lives in business, health, governance, and technology adoption and diffusion
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Cynthia Breazeal named 2024 AAAS Fellow

She is recognized for her distinguished contributions in the field of artificial intelligence education.
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Personal Robots research on front cover of Science Robotics March 2025 issue

The March 2025 cover story for Science Robotics highlights a recent study conducted by researchers in the Media Lab’s Personal Robots group.
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Media Lab Research Theme: Life with AI

Life with AI | Designing the future of smart systems to improve the human experience
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Media Lab Research Theme: Future Worlds

Future Worlds | Design and action for the future we want to live in
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Media Lab Research Theme: Cultivating Creativity

Cultivating Creativity | Catalyzing a global movement enabling everyone to unlock and unleash their individual and collective creativity
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Media Lab Research Theme: Connected Mind + Body

Connected Mind + Body | Revolutionizing the future of mental and physical wellbeing
Project Research

Social Robots for Social-Emotional Learning for Arabic Speakers

This project aimed at enhancing the social-emotional and educational experiences of Arabic-speaking refugee children. The project leverages…
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Cynthia Breazeal receives 2024 Robotics Medal

She was recognized for her significant contributions in establishing the field of social robotics and human-robot interaction.
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Labbers awarded 2024 Education Innovation Grants

Four out of eleven selected research projects were from the Media Lab community.
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Social robots as social catalysts: Collaborating with older adults as design research partners

When they’re valued as design research partners, older adults feel empowered to contribute to technology design.
Project Research

AI Audit: AI Ethics Literacy

An essential element of K-12 AI literacy is educating learners about the ethical and societal implications of AI systems. Previous work in …
Article Research

MIT program fosters early AI education for future workforce

In a special edition of Government Technology magazine focused on AI, executive editor Noelle Knell highlights the work of Cynthia Breazeal.
Article Research

Unveiling the role of older people as co-designers in shaping social robots

On the Aging Equal Podcast, Dr. Anastasia Ostrowski talks about co-designing social robots and her work collaborating with older adults.
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Blockchain: A new framework for robotic swarm systems

Swarms of robots will revolutionize many applications, from targeted material delivery to farming. However, the characteristics that make t…
Project Research

How to Grow (Almost) Anything - A New Model for Global Synthetic Biology Education

A Distance Learning Model for Global Laboratory-Based Synthetic Biology Education Synthetic Biology ( SynBio) tools hold the…
Project Research

How to Train Your Robot

How to Train Your Robot is a curriculum for students in 5-8th grade to explore artificial intelligence and ethics. In this course, students…
Article Research

Robots are already with us—how we treat them tells us a lot about ourselves, here's why

For BBC Science Focus, Media Lab research scientist Dr. Kate Darling considers the potential harms of mistreating robots.
Article Research

Making life friendlier with personal robots

Sharifa Alghowinem, a research scientist at the Media Lab, explores personal robot technology that explains emotions in English and Arabic.
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Co-Design of Social Robots with Older Adults

Social robots equipped with AI and designed with users’ social, emotional, and relational interactions in mind are increasingly being highl…
Project Research

Tools to investigate societal impacts of robots and AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents in an embodied form, such as Jibo, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home, are increasingly becoming part of our…
Article Research

Kate Darling, robot expert: "We shouldn’t laugh at people who fall in love with a machine. It’s going to be all of us"

Dr. Kate Darling, a research scientist with the Media Lab’s Personal Robots group, talks to El País about human relationships to tech.
Article Research

Do scientists have superpowers?

Randi Williams, who is a PhD student in the Media Lab’s Personal Robots group, joins other talented scientists to talk about their careers.
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Social Machines

Promoting deeper learning and understanding in human networks
Article Research

Day of AI curriculum meets the moment

Global participation in MIT RAISE’s free K-12 program more than doubles in its second year.
Article Research

How soon will M3gan become reality? Robot ethicists weigh in

Kate Darling talks about the film M3gan and the future of artificial intelligence systems designed to have human relationships.
Article Research

Robot companions are on their way, but don’t worry, they won’t replace humans

Media Lab researcher Kate Darling looks at the current state of household robots and considers how we may interact with them in the future.
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ML Learning

ML Learning
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Scalable Cooperation

Reimagining human cooperation in the age of social media and artificial intelligence
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Civic Media

Creating technology for social change
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Summer 2022 recommended reading from MIT

Enjoy these recent titles from Institute faculty and staff.
Project Research

Creativity with Social Robots

Children’s creativity—the ability to come up with novel, surprising, and valuable ideas—has been known to contribute to their learning outc…
Article Research

Cynthia Breazeal "Social Robots"

Personal Robots group head Cynthia Breazeal speaks with Marwa ElDiwiny on a recent episode of the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics podcast.
Article Research

Inaugural Day of AI brings new digital literacy to classrooms worldwide

Thousands of children participate in MIT-developed artificial intelligence curriculum.
Archived
Project Research

Huggable: A social robot for pediatric care

The Huggable is a new type of robotic companion for health care, education, and social communication applications. The Huggable is much mor…
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Personalized Machine Learning for Autism Therapy

EngageME: Personalized machine learning and humanoid robots for measuring affect and engagement of children with autismEngageME is a projec…
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Article Research

MIT Chalk Radio: AI Literacy for All with Prof. Cynthia Breazeal

Social robotics pioneer Prof. Cynthia Breazeal discusses artificial intelligence in our lives, digital citizenship, and AI education for all
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Robot Policy Design Toolkit

Increasingly, devices designed with artificial intelligence (AI), such as robots or smart speakers, are entering people’s homes, workspaces…
Article Research

Could humanlike behavior make smart devices more engaging? MIT researchers think so

A new study by researchers from the Personal Robots group and collaborators assesses how families interact with voice-user interfaces.
Article Research

“Hey, Alexa! Are you trustworthy?”

The more social behaviors a voice-user interface exhibits, the more likely people are to trust it, engage with it, and think it competent.
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The next generation of home robots will be more capable — and perhaps more social

Tech titans and upstarts alike are working to deepen our relationships with their robots.
Archived
Project Research

Robotic Positive Psychology Coach for College Students

A significant number of college students suffer from mental health issues that impact their physical, social, and occupa…
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Anastasia Ostrowski and Daniella DiPaola receive an award from the Harold Horowitz (1951) Student Research Fund

Established in 1999, the Harold Horowitz (1951) Student Research Fund makes awards on an annual basis to students in SA+P.
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Engagement with Voice-User Interface Agents

Voice-user interfaces (VUIs), such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, are increasingly becoming present in domestic environments. Us…
Article Research

Career Girls Role Models: Randi Williams

Randi Williams talks about her work. Her advice to girls is never to be afraid to make yourself heard; your ideas are essential.
Article Research

Robots will be tools for older adults and care givers in the future

Anastasia Ostrowski talks to the Digital Future Society about her work in this Q+A.
Article Research

Six researchers who are shaping the future of artificial intelligence

Nature profiles researchers from a variety of different fields, including the Lab’s own Cynthia Breazeal, who are shaping the future of AI.
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[bike] swarm

As bikes navigate city streets after dark, they are often equipped with lights. The lights make the bikes visible to cars or other bikers, …
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Storytelling Companion

Children’s oral language skills in preschool can predict their academic success later in life. Helping children improve their language and …
Archived
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Personal Robots and Affective Computing team win Best Paper Award at IEEE RO-MAN 2020

For the paper: "A Robotic Positive Psychology Coach to Improve College Students’ Wellbeing"
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Synthetic Neurobiology

Revealing insights into the human condition and repairing brain disorders via novel tools for mapping and fixing brain computations
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Machine Behavior

Machines powered by artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly mediate our social, cultural, economic, and …
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Affective Robotic Ring

An affective robotic ring which allows users to interact with multiple robots using finger gestures.- Runs on Robotic Operating System (ROS…
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Meet the 2017 LEGO Papert Fellows

The LEGO Papert Fellowship program was officially launched in 2017.
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Announcing the 2019 LEGO Papert Fellows

The LEGO Papert Fellowships support three graduate students working at the intersection of creativity, play, learning, and new technology.
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AI + Data Privacy Activities for K-9 Students

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers are grappling with some herculean questions regarding kids' safety online. Homemade slime…
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Robot Mindset and Curiosity

Young Learner's Companion Developing robots' growth mindset and pro-curious behavior and fostering the same in young learners via long…
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PopBots: An early childhood AI curriculum

How can we add the missing "T" and "E" in preschool STEAM education?
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Article Research

Bringing artificial intelligence into the classroom, research lab, and beyond

MIT Quest for Intelligence shares AI-focused UROP projects, including senior Nicole Thumma's work with the Personal Robots group.
Project Research

Personalized Robot Storytelling Companion

Could a social robot collaboratively exchange stories with children as a peer and help improve their linguistic and storytelling skills? We…