Research — MIT Media Lab

We are an interdisciplinary research lab working to invent the future of

artificial intelligence
art
health
design
robotics
human-machine interaction
technology
learning + teaching
human-computer interaction
architecture
consumer electronics
music
wearable computing
kids
bioengineering
data
sensors
environment
machine learning
politics
space
networks
cognition
wellbeing
social science
entertainment
economy
computer science
creativity
history
storytelling
alumni
interfaces
covid19
civic technology
ethics
engineering
prosthetics
developing countries
community
privacy
communications
biology
computer vision
virtual reality
augmented reality
social robotics
imaging
neurobiology
social media
urban planning
public health
industry
biotechnology
climate change
synthetic biology
social networks
energy
affective computing
food
medicine
transportation
biomechanics
data visualization
fabrication
government
behavioral science
social change
materials
cognitive science
women
ocean
sustainability
data science
startup
zero gravity
agriculture
manufacturing
blockchain
gaming
healthcare
human augmentation
genetics
diversity
banking and finance
prosthetic design
ecology
electrical engineering
racial justice
neural interfacing and control
3d printing
cryptocurrency
mental health
fashion
civic action
sleep
bionics
security
microfabrication
member company
natural language processing
construction
language learning
performance
autonomous vehicles
open source
social justice
systems
visualization
interactive
mechanical engineering
microbiology
marginalized communities
perception
nanoscience
internet of things
cities
water
textiles
collective intelligence
womens health
chemistry
code
mapping
clinical science
physiology
physics
nonverbal behavior
voice
algorithms
assistive technology
culture
biomedical imaging
law
sports and fitness
rfid
wireless
long-term interaction
hacking
trust
gender studies
orthotic design
networking
cells
pharmaceuticals
digital currency
mechatronics
soft-tissue biomechanics
open access
autism research
business
science
exhibit
news
real estate
internet
decision-making
misinformation
journalism
asl

Schoenberg in Hollywood: A new opera by Tod Machover

“Can a man know the truth and tell it to the greatest number and still be misunderstood? Can one man be of the many and still be known?” Sc…

Archived

Project Research

Intentional Inference of Emotions

Emotion recognition modeled as a goal-directed process!

Archived

Project Research

Artificial listener with social intelligence

A social robot modifies its behavior to change what you think about it!

Archived

Research

CE 2.0

Project Research

BaguaMarsh

This project takes the idea of the unity between heaven and man of the ancient Chinese philosophy I ching (Book of Changes), combines …

Post Research

Media Lab startup showcase: Spring 2018 member meeting

A video playlist portraying companies supported by the E14 Fund.

Archived

Research

Music, Mind and Machine

How to build intelligent music systems out of interacting audio-processing agents.

Project Research

City as Classroom, City as Laboratory

Often, we neglect to see the city as living, complex, and dynamic. However, shrouded by its masses of concrete and steel lie unique ecosyst…

Archived

Project Research

Field Experimentation in Boston's Intertidal Zone

The Intertidal Experimentation Workshop will take place September 29 and 30 (9am to 2pm) at the MIT Media Lab, open to students ages 8-14. …

Archived

Project Research

City Symphonies: Massive musical collaboration

The City Symphony project by the Opera of the Future group brings creative musical participation to everyone while encouraging collaboratio…

Article Research

Ed Boyden on minding your brain

A conversation between Ed Boyden and Tyler Cowen on optogenetics and expansion microscopy to storytelling and the nature of consciousness.

Article Research

Storytelling with volumetric displays

Mike Bove, head of the Object-Based Media group, on the current state of the technology and what his research team is working on.

Post Research

This city is a classroom

Avery Normandin and Devora Najjar are on a mission to build literacy and appreciation for urban ecology.

Communications Futures Program

Archived

Project Research

Ecology, Evolution, and Engineering for Empowered Brains

EEEeb Spring 2019: Urban OceansMarch 24, April 7 and 21, May 19, June 2 To register, please visit this link.…

Future Storytelling

Archived

Consumer Electronics Laboratory

Archived

Article Research

Art, Science, Technology Inspires Walt Disney Imagineers at MIT Media Lab Event

“Happiness makes the world go round."

Archived

Project Research

Perspectives

The news is probably one of the first things people check in the morning, but how much does what you know and understand about the world de…

Archived

Research

Living Mobile

Enhancing mobile life through improved user interactions

Article Research

Science Fiction for tomorrow's day to day

Ariel Ekblaw speaks at Sónar+D

Post Research

Storytelling, STEM, and changing the conversation at Comic-Con

The Media Lab panel at San Diego Comic-Con covered inclusion, exploration, and the reciprocity between fiction and research at the Lab

Project Research

The Story Learning Machine

The Storytelling project uses machine-based analytics to identify the qualities of engaging and marketable media. By developing models with…

Thesis Research

Pintail: A Travel Companion for Guided Storytelling

Chowdhury, S. K. (2018). Pintail: A Travel Companion for Guided Storytelling.

Article Research

Silos, groupthink and knowledge ghettos

Dan Novy, MIT Media Lab engineer, is a strong advocate of bridging this gap, especially in media innovation.

Project Research

Realtime Detection of Social Cues

Realtime detection of social cues in children’s voicesIn everyday conversation, people use what are known as backchannels to signal to some…

Article Research

Machines now know how to terrorise humans

The Shelley Project studies how to produce horror stories as a result of collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence.

Article Research

AI is working to make moviegoers more emotional

An AI algorithm can predict which parts of a film will generate the greatest emotional responses in audiences.

Publication Research

Telling Stories to Robots: The Effect of Backchanneling on a Child's Storytelling

Hae Won Park, Mirko Gelsomini, Jin Joo Lee, and Cynthia Breazeal. 2017. Telling Stories to Robots: The Effect of Backchanneling on a Child's Storytelling. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '17).

Article Research

"El robot que escribe libros de terror" Oppenheimer Presenta # 1741

Research scientist Manuel Cebrian discusses Shelley with CNN en Español host Andrés Oppenheimer.

Article Research

AI is learning how to make you cry at the movies

New research can predict how plots, images, and music affect your emotions while watching a movie.

Article Research

AI in storytelling: Machines as cocreators

Computers don’t cry during sad stories, but they can tell when we will.

Article Research

A team of MIT scientists taught an AI to get emotional over movies

Artificial intelligence (AI) may not be ready to write the next blockbuster movie, but a team of AI researchers from the Massachusetts…

Thesis Research

A Bayesian Theory of Mind Approach to Nonverbal Communication for Human-Robot Interactions

Jin Joo Lee. A Bayesian Theory of Mind Approach to Nonverbal Communication for Human-Robot Interactions. PhD Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017.

Publication Research

Backchannel Opportunity Prediction for Social Robot Listeners

HW Park, M Gelsomini, JJ Lee, T Zhu, and C Breazeal (2017). Backchannel Opportunity Prediction for Social Robot Listeners. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).