Facilities

The Media Laboratory houses a gigabit fiber-optic plant that connects a heterogeneous network of computers, ranging from fine-grained, embedded processors to mesh networks. The rapid prototyping resources include 3-D printing, injection molding, and PC board fabrication. There are studios for audio and video, and laboratories for DNA labeling, new sensors, micro-encapsulation, quantum computing, and perceptual studies.

The Laboratory is beginning the 21st century with plans for a major expansion: a building complex that will approximately double its current space. This new structure will be adjacent—and connected—to the current Media Laboratory. When completed, the complex will house the Okawa Center, focused on the ways children will live, learn, and play in the digital age. The building will also include the List Visual Arts Center, the School of Architecture + Planning’s Design Lab and Center for Advanced Visual Studies, the Department of Architecture’s Visual Arts Program, as well as MIT’s Program in Comparative Media Studies.