Article Research

Learning designers call for more user testing of edtech products and teaching materials

In EdSurge, Media Lab alum Elliott Hedman and other experts call on edtech companies to pay more attention to their end users—children
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Space Enabled

Advancing justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space
Article Research

Five must-read books on teaching, learning, and digital technologies

Explore books on learning and education recommended by Media Lab Professor Cynthia Breazeal and others from MIT Open Learning.
Project Research

Generative AI-Enabled Context Personalization for Vocabulary Learning

Fostering students' interests in learning is considered to have many positive downstream effects. Large language models have opened up new …
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Conformable Decoders

Converting the patterns of nature and the human body into beneficial signals and energy
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City Science

Looking beyond smart cities
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

“We offer another place for knowledge”

Jospin Hassan has drawn on curriculum developed by MIT RAISE and the Personal Robots group to build + share data science and AI skill sets.
Article Research

How AI will shape the future of education with Hal Abelson

Hal Abelson, co-director of MIT RAISE, talks to Kara Miller about the impact of AI on education.
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Lifelong Kindergarten

Engaging people in creative learning experiences
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Biomechatronics

Enhancing human physical capability
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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
Project Research

City Science Lab @ Andorra

Andorra and the City Science research group at the MIT Media Lab are taking on the challenge of turning Andorra into an “Internationally Re…
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Responsive Environments

Augmenting and mediating human experience, interaction, and perception with sensor networks
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Media Lab Research Theme: Decentralized Society

Decentralized Society | Architecting the new internet for the good of the people
Article Research

Cynthia Breazeal is making AI fun and educational for kids

In Success Magazine, Professor Cynthia Breazeal talks about how people can use AI technologies to enhance human abilities.
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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
Post Research

"AI Comes Out of the Closet" seeks to merge AI and LGBTQIA+ advocacy in a way as innovative as it is necessary

This research shows how AI can support LGBTQIA+ advocacy, how technology might help create a more accepting + understanding society.
Project Research

AI Comes Out of the Closet: Using AI-Generated Virtual Characters to Help Individuals Practice LGBTQIA+ Advocacy

AbstractDespite significant historical progress, discrimination and social stigma continue to impact the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals. The…
Project Research

Generative AI for Personalized Learning & Self-Development

Fostering students’ interest in learning has many positive downstream effects. It can make students more persistent and impact student…
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Space Exploration Initiative

Space Exploration Initiative
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Media Lab Research Theme: Connected Mind + Body

Connected Mind + Body | Revolutionizing the future of mental and physical wellbeing
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Fluid Interfaces

Designing Systems for Cognitive Support
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Future Sketches

Exploring the essence of code as a creative medium
Project Research

👋 CoCo — A New Real-Time Co-Creative Platform for Young People

CoCo is a new live co-creative learning platform designed to empower educators to support young people in both physical and remote set…
Project Research

Thinking Cap

Find out more about the new version of the system, "The Thinking Cap 2.0" here.Peoples' mindsets, meaning their beliefs about their own int…
Publication Research

Putting Things into Context: Generative AI-Enabled Context Personalization for Vocabulary Learning Improves Learning Motivation

Joanne Leong, Pat Pataranutaporn, Valdemar Danry, Florian Perteneder, Yaoli Mao, and Pattie Maes. 2024. Putting Things into Context: Generative AI-Enabled Context Personalization for Vocabulary Learning Improves Learning Motivation. In CHI'24. May 11-16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM, New York NY, USA, 15 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581039
Project Research

Theme | Attention, Memory & Learning

Projects related to the theme of how digital systems may support attention, memory, and learning.
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Viral Communications

People and intelligent machines in a creative, symbiotic loop
Publication Research

AI-Generated Virtual Instructors Based on Liked or Admired People Can Improve Motivation and Foster Positive Emotions for Learning

P. Pataranutaporn* J. Leong*, V. Danry*, A. Lawson, P. Maes, M. Sra. 2022. *Co-first authorship ”AI-Generated Virtual Instructors Based on Liked or Admired People Can Improve Motivation and Foster Positive Emotions for Learning” to appear in FIE 2022, October 8-11, Uppsala, Sweden.
Project Research

Synthetic Self-Perception

Perceptual illusions have the power to change our abilities and behaviours. Prior research in virtual reality (VR) has shown that transport…
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Affective Computing

Advancing human wellbeing by developing new ways to communicate, understand, and respond to emotion
Project Research

Theme | Attention, Memory & Learning (OLD)

Several of our projects aim to support learning and creativity. While some systems focus on a specific skill to be strengthened, e.g.,…
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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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Tangible Media

Invent new tangible and embodied interactions that inspire and engage people
Article Research

Neuroscientists warn advertisers are trying to 'weaponize sleep' by plugging into your dreams

“The potential for misuse of these technologies is as ominous as it is obvious.”
Project Research

Targeted Dream Incubation

Targeted dream incubation (TDI) is a methodology for guiding (or “incubating”) dreams towards specific themes. Please read the FAQ below to…
Project Research

Dormio: Interfacing with Dreams

InspirationSleep is a forgotten country of the mind. A vast majority of our technologies are built for our waking state, even though a thir…
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Opera of the Future

Extending expression, learning, and health through innovations in musical composition, performance, and participation
Project Research

Data Activism Program

My name is Raechel Walker. I'm a PhD student in the Personal Robots group. Here is a short description of my Data Activism Program:The Data…
Project Research

Andorra | Energy + Environment
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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
Project Research

Festival of Learning

An annual celebration of learning, sharing, making, creating, and debating at the MIT Media Lab.
Article Research

Friday Five: Alexis Hope talks about sexual health, bacteria in design + more

For Design Milk’s Friday Five, Media Lab alum Alexis Hope shares the work of five of her favorite designers.
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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MIT Center for Constructive Communication

Designing tools, methods and systems that connect rather than divide us to create a healthier society
Project Research

Thinking like a Computer: Drawing Activities (Prototype)

Can computer graphics algorithms be taught through drawing?In this prototypical activity book, we present the steps of four computer graphi…
Project Research

Brazilian Creative Learning Network / Aprendizagem Criativa no Brasil

The Brazilian Creative Learning Network (BCLN -- https://aprendizagemcriativa.org/) is a grassroots movement that promotes and supports the…
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…
Post Research

Yiyun Zhang Presents at Space4Women Expert Meeting by UNOOSA and CSA

Presenting work at the UN/Canada Space4Women "Building capacity to promote and advance gender equality in the space sector."
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

Transforming screen time: Kids can use smartphones to enhance their creativity

Too many apps treat young people as passive consumers, not motivated makers. But there are alternatives.
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Community Biotechnology

Community Biotechnology
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Molecular Machines

Engineering at the limits of complexity with molecular-scale parts
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Project Research

Impact.AI: K-12 AI Literacy

Today’s artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are changing how many people play, work, learn, and govern themselves. Due to this rapid …
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Project Research

Design Justice Project at MIT

​We take as a starting point for our work the recent scholarship by Sasha Costanza-Chock, Design Justice, in which she described design jus…
Project Research

Art Installation: NeuraFutures

Website of the project: https://www.neurafutures.com The installation is currently open to public starting September 25, 2023 at …
Article Research

Bringing design justice to the classroom and workplace

Project shares ways to create community around design equity, ethics, and justice.
Post Research

Dallas Symphony Orchestra launches new Jeanne R. Johnson Education Center

The new Center will provide music education to students across North Texas, in cooperation with the Media Lab's Opera of the Future group.
Project Research

The Clubhouse Network

The Clubhouse provides a creative and safe out-of-school learning environment where young people from underserved communities around the wo…
Project Research

Interactive Stories for Learning AI and Programming in Preschool

Today's children will live in a world saturated with artificial intelligence. Understanding the key idea behind the functioning of intellig…
Project Research

Learning Creative Learning

Learning Creative Learning is an online course and community of educators, designers, technologists, and tinkerers exploring creative learn…
Project Research

Public Library Innovation Exchange

Public libraries are one of most trusted public institutions in the U.S. and increasingly provide a broad range of education services, rang…
Article Research

Empowering Cambridge youth through data activism

Mayor’s youth employment program brought local high schoolers to MIT this summer.
Project Research

Zero Robotics

Zero Robotics is an educational program that hosts tournaments to teach middle and high school students to write code and program with robo…
Project Research

Fab Labs

"Fab Lab" is an abbreviation for Fabrication Laboratory, a group of off-the-shelf, industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools, wrap…
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Project Research

Tidmarsh Living Observatory Portal

The Tidmarsh Living Observatory Portal is a research project that focuses on the design and fabrication of a pavilion that will genera…
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Project Research

Liberatory Computing for African American Students

The underrepresentation of minoritized groups, particularly African Americans, is the longstanding reality of computing fields. Computing h…
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Project Research

Drawing++ Workshop

Drawing++ Workshop: using drawing as a means of understanding computationIn this workshop participants explore computational concepts …
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Article Research

How MIT's fab labs scaled around the world

Professor Neil Gershenfeld tells MIT News that fab labs are now transitioning from providing access to tools to making the tools themselves.