A key challenge of data-driven social science is the gathering of high quality multi-dimensional datasets. A second challenge relates to the design and execution of social experiments in the real world that are as reliable as those within a controlled laboratory, yet yield more practical results. We introduce the Social Functional Mechanism-design and Relationship Imaging, or “Social fMRI”–an approach that enhances existing computational social science methodologies by bridging rich data collection strategies with experimental interventions.

The Interface Ecology Lab (http://ecologylab.net) develops computing as a medium of expression, coordination, and ideation. The interface-as-ecosystem is a border zone that juxtaposes disparate representational systems. We synthesize diverse fields to investigate—art, design, cognitive psychology, ethnography, and cultural studies—with computer science and engineering.

People can easily become mindless in their decision-making and become disengaged from their surroundings when their actions depend on information and guidance from an assistive technology. Research has shown how automated navigation assistance systems lead users to be disengaged from the space through which they are traveling, resulting in poor recollection of the environment and poorer situational decision-making. This disengagement and mindlessness can potentially increase the risk of accidents and lower the quality of user experience.

MassChallenge is an annual $1M global startup competition and accelerator program that catalyzes the launch and success of high-growth, high-impact new businesses. It aims to address the perennial challenge of supporting the great ideas of new entrepreneurs and nurturing them -- both ideas and people -- to the point that they are connected to the traditional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This event is free, but registration is required:
http://divsanergy.eventbrite.com/

USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures is thrilled to announce the award of $100,000 to Sanergy, Inc. with a public presentation by Sanergy founder David Auerbach and renowned development experts followed by a reception, on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s campus. The event is co-sponsored by the MIT Media Lab Development Ventures.

The proliferation of inexpensive video recording hardware and enormous storage capacity has enabled the collection of retail customer behavior at an unprecedented scale. Who will watch the billions of hours of video data that is captured every year?

Computing has become a facet of ordinary life–a powerful resource for people, places, and things. It has migrated from the backrooms, to our living rooms, our pockets, and now, into the ether of life. Let’s discuss this evolving human-machine interface, our evolving relationship with ever-smarter things, and the social implications of our new life inside the computer.

We will also discuss how the product-design business has evolved over last 50 years, and how this new software-based, connected world is radically changing how products are designed and built.

Derek 'Deek' Diedricksen, host of the web-series Tiny Yellow House, author, and all-around uber-builder, will discuss his sustainable micro-cottages and low-cost 'hacked' dwellings at the Media Lab. For more info, see The New York Times article or the NPR story.

This session looks beyond platforms to explore the concept of media ecosystems. How do we understand, map, visualize, and ultimately shape the flow of texts across an increasingly diverse and complex media ecosystem? What are the relationships between professional and citizen, participatory and broadcast media? How do we understand what people are encountering, both in terms of supply (tools like Media Cloud that examine what's published) and demand (tracking/logging efforts that look at individual or group consumption?

In the current moment of economic uncertainty, America is once again turning to innovation as the silver bullet that will guide us forward. Yet in the eyes of many leaders, innovation seems tightly coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math–the STEM subjects. We need to add "Art" to turn STEM into STEAM.