MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Laboratory ( Media Lab for short ) is a faculty of the University of Massachusetts Institute of Technology . The university is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts . The MIT is regarded as a leading university in the field of research technologiegestützer teaching and new forms of communication.
Foundation and further development
The faculty was founded in 1985 by MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner (former MIT president). A major founding intention was the forthcoming process of convergence of computer technology, literature and broadcasting, driven by the rapid changes in information technology . When it was founded, the MIT Media Lab set itself the goal of scientifically accompanying these convergence processes. After some time, the research area expanded due to the faster advancing media convergence . Over time, a worldwide unique and very extensive scientific penetration of this area developed. The research extends to the scientific investigation of electronic music, graphic design, video and three-dimensional representations ( holography ) or to the research of human-machine interfaces for the efficiency-increasing use of computers in practice.
According to the guiding principle of its founders, the Media Lab concentrates on research, further development and the innovative and creative use of digital technology in order to further develop new forms of expression and communication.
Among other things, the Media Lab researches human behavior in virtual reality, new types of communication interfaces such as so-called "software agents" or new forms of communication and forms of information distribution such as "viral communication" or viral marketing .
The best- known spin-off from the MIT Media Lab is the $ 100 laptop project, which has now been put into practice .
The Media Lab today employs 500 people, academic staff and professors.
Current research areas
Due to its comprehensive concept, the research areas are correspondingly diverse. Projects are carried out in a wide variety of areas. Research currently covers the following areas:
- eRationality: Dan Ariely
- Electronic Publishing: Walter Bender
- Object-Based Media: V. Michael Bove, Jr.
- Robotic Life: Cynthia Breazeal
- Computing Culture: Chris Csikszenthmihályi
- Sociable Media: Judith Donath
- Physics and Media: Neil Gershenfeld
- Tangible Media: Hiroshi Ishii
- Molecular Machines: Joseph Jacobson
- Software Agents: Henry Lieberman
- Viral Communications: Andrew B. Lippman
- Opera of the Future: Death Machover
- Physical Language Workshop: John Maeda
- Ambient Intelligence: Pattie Maes
- Responsive Environments: Joseph Paradiso
- Human Dynamics: Alex (Sandy) Pentland
- Affective Computing: Rosalind Picard
- Lifelong Kindergarten: Mitchel Resnick
- Social Machines: Deb Roy
- Speech Interfaces: Chris Schmandt
- Context-Aware Computing: Ted Selker
- Music, Mind and Machine: Barry Vercoe
Current events
The Media Lab underwent scrutiny in 2019 for accepting donations from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . This led to the resignation of its director, Jōichi Itō , and prompted the President of MIT to open an investigation into the allegations.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.nytimes.com "MIT Media Lab Names a New Director", New York Times , John Markoff (April 26, 2011). Retrieved December 28, 2013.
- ^ Director, MIT Media Lab . Retrieved December 28, 2013.
- ^ Nytimes.com: Director of MIT's Media Lab Resigns After Taking Money From Jeffrey Epstein. September 7, 2019, accessed on September 9, 2019 .
- ^ Ronan Farrow: How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. In: The New Yorker. September 6, 2019, accessed September 9, 2019 .
- ↑ MIT Media Lab director resigns after criticism for financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .