Media Laboratory

In a year that saw tragic acts of terrorism trigger reflection about how little the world's people know about each other, the Media Laboratory continued to look outward, examining ways that digital technologies can contribute to a connected world population. As part of this effort, on September 20, 2001, the Lab signed a one-year research agreement with the Government of India to create Media Lab Asia (MLAsia), a nonprofit entity focused on developing sustainable and culturally appropriate solutions for improving health-care delivery, connectivity, and economic development for some of the world's poorest and most remote populations.

Back in Cambridge, the lab focused on what it means for us to identify ourselves, not only as members of a family, a town, or a country, but also as citizens of a global, online community. In October, some 500 attendees participated in ID/entity, a one-day symposium hosted by award-winning Dateline NBC correspondent John Hockenberry. The event focused on the effects of technology on the nature of identity in the twenty-first century—a time when we must ask ourselves not only "How is technology changing the world around us?" but also, "How is technology changing who we are and how others perceive us?"

Research Achievements

A sampling of 2001–2002 Media Laboratory research accomplishments includes:

DonkeyNet, which brings Internet connectivity to even the most remote areas of the world by attaching a low-cost, handheld PC, equipped with a wireless card, to the back of a bus, delivery van, or even a donkey. Villagers queue their Internet messages at local telekiosks, and when the vehicle gets within range, the wireless radio link picks up the queued messages and drops off files for users of that kiosk.

Responsive window technology, which turns any ordinary window into an interactive display using contact piezoelectric pickups that record the arrival of bending waves created when someone taps on the window.

"Smart" building technology, which takes information technology out of conventional computers and literally builds it into components of buildings, allowing logical intelligence in a structure to grow along with its physical form.

Impromptu, a new concept in mobile audio devices that utilizes the availability of portable computation and wireless Internet connection to allow you to enjoy a selection from your audio book collection, listen to your favorite music, get timely news updates, call your sister, or monitor your sleeping baby—all through a single audio device.

A prototype for a hand-held, human-powered generator that creates five watts of power by being twirled over a person's head on a string. The device has implications for providing affordable power for simple computers in the remote areas of the globe where no electricity is available.

Wearable computing, which allows us to move beyond PCs and laptops and wear our computers as we would eyeglasses or clothing. One project, MIThril, combines light-weight RISC processors, a single-cable power/data "body bus," and high-bandwidth wireless networking in a package that is nearly as light, comfortable, and unobtrusive as ordinary street clothing.

A pack of 3-D animated autonomous and semi-autonomous synthetic wolves, who interact with users, exhibiting social behavior and acting much as real wolves do in their natural environment. The installation provides a first step in designing computer programs that allow people to get into the "mind and body" of another species.

A robotic sea anemone-like creature to help us learn what aesthetic, behavioral, and interactive qualities give a robot a life-like presence, and how people relate to an "alien" creature that seems organic but is not anthropomorphic.

Every Sign of Life, which explores the use of computer games to make monitoring personal health fun and engaging.

New ways of joining the physical environment and cyberspace by making "tangible bits" accessible through everyday physical surfaces like walls or desktops. One project, Illuminating Clay, provides landscape designers with a new design tool that combines a sophisticated landscape-analysis computer program with a malleable clay model, allowing designers to immediately understand the implications of their designs in the real world.

Autonomous agents capable of having a real-time, face-to-face conversation with a human. These agents are human in form and communicate using both verbal and non-verbal modalities.

Toy Symphony, a three-year project involving children, soloists, composers, and symphony orchestras around the world, which aims to radically alter how children are introduced to music, and to redefine the relationship between professional musicians and young people.

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Collaboration Within MIT

The Media Laboratory continues to vigorously engage in collaborations within MIT. These collaborations are in the form of joint academic appointments, teaching efforts, and research programs. Some 18 percent of the graduate students supported by the lab and directly supervised by the Program in Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) faculty are from departments other than MAS. As in years past, the lab engaged almost 10 percent of the undergraduate student population through the UROP program, and had 22 students enroll in the alternative freshman program, now in its third year.

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Media Labs Abroad

Media Lab Europe

Media Lab Europe (MLE), launched in Dublin in 2000, experienced a year of substantial growth in FY2002. In January it hosted Extreme Interfaces, a one-day symposium and open house focused on new opportunities emerging from the convergence of minds and media. It also hosted the Eurographics Ireland 2002 Workshop organized by MLE's Synthesis group and Trinity College, Dublin, (which featured Media Lab's AT&T Career Development Professor Justine Cassell as keynote speaker), and the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) in May. In FY2002 MLE also announced the formation of its first industry focus group, Future of Wireless. MLE also collaborated with Tod Machover on the Toy Symphony's world premiere in Dublin in April.

MLE Research Partners are AIB Group, BBC, eircom, Ericsson, Essilor, and Fondazione Ugo Bordoni. Donors include Denis O'Brien, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Heidrick and Struggles, and Motorola.

Media Lab Asia

The Government of India and MIT signed an agreement in June 2001 establishing Media Lab Asia (MLAsia) in India. In September, a follow-up research and collaboration agreement was signed setting terms for a first-year "preparatory period," for the Indian government, MIT, industrial partners, and NGOs to work together to adapt the Media Lab model to the Asian context. MLA's goal is to find innovative ways for the newest technologies to have a favorable impact on the lives of some of the world's neediest people. With administrative headquarters in Mumbai, MLAsia is also supporting research labs on the campuses of the Indian Institutes of Technology of Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Kanpur, and Kharagpur. Media Lab Asia also deploys its technologies in participating grassroots communities.

In June 2002, Bimal Sareen was named MLAsia's CEO and managing director, as well as a member of MLAsia's board of directors. Sareen previously served as Compaq Computer Corporation's director of business and corporate development for the Asia-Pacific and Greater China regions.

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Sponsors

In FY2002, funding for the lab's research programs remained level, with a larger portion of income coming from directed research sponsorship.

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Research Sponsors

Approximately 15 proposals for new, government-directed research were submitted by the Media Lab in FY2002. While most remain under consideration, two have been awarded: "Center for Bits and Atoms" (Professor Neil Gershenfeld), from the National Science Foundation, and "RF Biomolecules—Direct Electronic Programming and Control of Bio-Molecular Machines" (Professor Joseph Jacobson), from DARPA/Air Force Research Laboratory.

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Corporate and Strategic Research Partners

The lab acquired a new corporate research partner, the Hewlett-Packard Company, and a new strategic research partner, Korea's Information and Communications University. Both are accorded membership in all the lab's consortia and special interest groups.

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Consortia

The last months of FY2002 saw the establishment of Changing Places, a joint Media Lab and Department of Architecture consortium, which explores how new technologies, materials, and strategies for design can make possible dynamic, evolving places that respond to the complexities of life. It is an expansion of the MIT House_n consortium.

Sponsors joining the lab's consortia include:

Also during FY2001, Varian, Inc. became an affiliate sponsor of the lab and Informatix, Inc. contributed to the lab's endowment funds.

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Special Funds

Nine corporate sponsors—BT, eircom, IBM, Intel, LEGO, Mattel, Motorola, Telmex, and Toshiba—funded fellowship programs. Additional sponsors include the family and friends of the late Steven R. Holtzman, who established a fellowship in his memory; Media Lab Europe; and Media Lab Asia. The following were named fellows during FY2002:

New Corporate Visitors and Affiliates

During FY2002 Gerardo Lucio Casas from Telmex, and Marshall Millier from Intel, were appointed research affiliates, and Nanako Ishido from CSK was appointed visiting scholar.

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Personnel

In its most difficult personnel decision since opening its doors in 1985, the lab announced layoffs of some 30 employees in December 2001. The layoffs were part of a lab-wide effort to bring an exponential growth in expenses in line with its linear growth in revenues. The cuts were made mostly in management and support positions, ensuring that they would not affect the depth or breadth of any of the lab's research programs. 

Earlier in 2001 two new positions had been created: Ramona Allen, who previously worked at MIT's Department of Biology and Human Resources Office, was appointed as the lab's director of human resources, and Amy Holden was appointed as coordinator for the Media Lab Europe collaboration.

Walter Bender
Executive Director

More information about the Media Laboratory can be found on the web at http://www.media.mit.edu/.

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Media Laboratory Sponsors

Corporate and Strategic Research Partners*

BT
Hewlett-Packard
Company
Information and Communications University
Intel
Learning Lab Denmark
The LEGO Group
MasterCard International
Motorola, Inc.
Swatch AG
Telmex
US Postal Service
*Members of all consortia and special interest groups.

Research Consortia

Changing Places

International Paper

Digital Life (DL)

Acer Incorporated
Banco Bradesco
Bertelsmann AG/BMG Entertainment
Deutsche Telekom AG
Eastman Kodak
eircom
Ericsson
France Telecom/Orange
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Harman International Industries
Industrial Technology Research Institute
McDonald's Corporation
Merrill Lynch
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co.
Nortel Networks
NTT Comware
Panasonic Technologies Company
Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
Royal Ahold
Sprint/United Management Company
Stan Winston Studio, Inc.
Telecom Italia LAB
TOPPAN Printing Co., Ltd.
Viant Corporation
WPP Group plc

Digital Nations

Banco Bradesco
INCAE
SENACYT
Try Group, Inc.

information: organized (i:o)

AARP
Eastman Kodak
Grupo Estado
International Business Machines
International Olympic Committee
Interpublic Group
JCPenney
Johnson & Johnson
McGraw-Hill
Sun Microsystems
Time Inc. Production
US Department of Defense

Things That Think (TTT)

American Greetings Corporation
Amgen, Inc.
Becton, Dickinson and Company
Brother International Corporation
ChevronTexaco Information
Technology Company
Consignia plc
DaimlerChrysler
DuPont
EDS
Escher Group, Ltd.
FEI Company
Ford Motor Company
Fraunhofer e.V.
General Motors Cyberworks
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
Lear Corporation
Lucent Technologies
Mars, Incorporated
Mattel, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Minolta Co., Ltd.
NEC Technologies, Inc.
Nokia Corporation
Pitney Bowes, Inc.
Roche Diagnostics Corporation
Saab AB
Schott Glas
Sensormatic Electronics Corp.
Shell Oil Company
Steelcase Inc.
Sun Microsystems
Telenor R&D
Tomy Company, Ltd.
Toshiba
Unisys Corporation
Yamaha Corporation

Special Interest Groups

CC++
DaimlerChrysler
Ford Motor Company
General Motors
Lear Corporation

Counter Intelligence

Royal Ahold

e-markets

Acer Incorporated
ChevronTexaco Information
Technology Company
eircom
Kraft Foods, Inc.
Merrill Lynch
Royal Ahold
Gray Matters
AARP

Silicon Biology /Personal Fabrication/ IPID

Agfa-Gevaert
DuPont
Lucent Technologies
Roche Diagnostics Corporation
Sensormatic Electronics Corp.
TOPPAN Printing Co., Ltd.
Toshiba

Toys of Tomorrow (TOT)

Deutsche Telekom AG
International Olympic Committee
Mattel, Inc.
Tomy Company, Ltd.

Special Funds

Alma Media
ASCII Corporation
BT
CSK Corporation
Heller Werkstatt
Intel
International Business Machines
The LEGO Group
Mattel, Inc.
Media Lab Asia
Media Lab Europe
Motorola, Inc.
NTT Comware
SEGA
Sony Corporation
Telmex

Research Contracts

France Telecom/Orange
Microsoft Corporation
National Science Foundation
US Air Force
US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
US Department of the Army

Affiliates

Accenture
Datalogic S.p.A.
Fantastic Corporation
Varian, Inc.

Endowment and Naming Grants

Rudge and Nancy Allen
Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
AT&T Corp.
Armand and Celeste Bartos
BT
Joseph Chung
Alex Dreyfoos, Jr.
Fukutake Publishing
Informatix, Inc.
The LEGO Group
LG Electronics, Inc.
MasterCard International
Misawa Homes
Motorola, Inc.
NEC
Isao Okawa
Schlumberger
Sony Corporation
Swatch AG
Telmex
Toshiba
Philippe Villers

June 2002

 

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