G  R  A  Y 
M  A  T  T 
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GRAY MATTERS
MIT Media Laboratory
Contacts Walter Bender and Sandy Pentland
Statement of Work
In Gray Matters, a special interest group at the MIT Media Lab, we explore how computation and communication can enrich the lives of older persons now and in the decades ahead. Gray Matters focuses on making the "third age" more fun, more energized, and more connected than ever before. Longer life spans and better technologies mean more opportunities for new experiences, from wearable computing to online communities.

We aim to discover how future technologies can lead to healthier and more independent living and how these same technologies can help us realize more fulfillment in our lives. Rather than targeting the specific needs of a particular demographic, we are exploring technologies and applications that are applicable to and adaptive to the variety and change of lifestyles of older persons. We are focusing on technologies that bridge the gaps between active and sedentary, and individual and community. An epistemological guideline for the program is constructionism, i.e., we are interested in providing environments that encourage and facilitate learning through doing.

Two charter projects will provide an impetus for the program, the Silver Press and the Silver Wearable Computer.

Silver Press Since 1996, the Media Lab has been experimenting with a community centric approach to journalism, Silver Stringers, tapping into the memory and experience of the older generation, who have unparalleled wisdom to share about the communities where they have lived and worked. Tools have been developed that allow a group of people to publish their own community journal on the World Wide Web. The tools are designed to be used by people with little or no experience with computers.

The system includes both software for publishing and software for collaboration. Community "journalists" meet weekly to discuss editorial content. This group uses the Silver Stringers tools to enter their stories into the system in plain text. A smaller group of "editors" meets more frequently to put contributions (text articles, photographs, art, music, etc.) onto the web site. The system automatically publishes the stories to the WWW without the users having to use protocols such as FTP or HTML.

The Silver Stringers system is easy to master and has visible results. Elders' stories and ideas can reach not only their own local community, but friends and neighbors far and wide, across the WWW. The project gives the participants an opportunity to tap their talents and energy, and often, learn new skills in writing, editing, photography, and artwork. For them, it is a satisfying and challenging activity at a time in their lives when opportunities for learning are few. The community benefits because we have the results of their literary talents and the benefit of their wisdom, an enduring legacy.

We will expand the reach of the Silver Stringers program by making the software and process available to communities throughout the United States (and the world) by utilizing infrastructures such as the AARP. In addition to expanding the number of participants, we will also develop an organization that resembles a press wire service. Relevant stories from local communities will be collected and redistributed on a regional, national, and international basis. Our expectation is that the result will be a vital and vibrant addition to the handful of professional news wire services that currently operate around the world. The potential benefits to such a program include giving individuals a structured means to contribute to the community, providing a mechanism for increased socialization among the aging population, and lending more weight to the experience and wisdom of our seniors.

Silver Wearable Computer While there is little doubt that wearable computing is on the horizon, most of the development is centered around satisfying industrial or biomedical needs. In addition, there are academic and amateur enthusiasts who are exploring the theoretical and practical edges of an emerging industry. We propose to develop a wearable computer for the elderly. It will not be a device for the infirm, rather it will be useful at all stages of life, but designed in such a way as to adapt to changing needs over time. At the core of the device will be interpersonal communications, both in the form of the spoken and written word. Ancillary applications will include biomedical sensing and enhanced environmental control.

In the spirit of constructionism, the Silver Wearable Computer will employ technologies such as E-Embroidery, constructed entirely from textiles and including sensors that conform to any surface or shape and are mechanically strong and versatile. It will be possible to literally craft the Silver Wearable Computer with knitting needles.

Within the context of the Silver Wearable Computer we will explore technologies such as Remembrance Agents, a set of applications that watch over a user's shoulder and suggest information relevant to the current situation, Automated Collaborative Filtering, a technique to leverage knowledge from a community when solving problems, and Deep Charts, a means whereby medical research and clinical data can both "explain themselves" to lay persons and "personalize themselves" with respect to particular individual cases or populations.

Particular emphasis will be placed upon the Silver Wearable's ability to continuously monitor a wide range of biosignals together with the user's activity and context. These data will be used to develop a personalized, data-rich health profile of the user. The availability of such comprehensive, personal, and contextualized data has the potential to revolutionize health care: instead of the current data-poor circumstance of medical research today, we could move to a data-rich health system founded on validated predictive measurements and continous behavioral feedback.

By augmenting the user's memory, community connections, and information resources, the Silver Wearable Computer will serve to keep seniors active, knowledgeable and involved. The Silver Wearable will thus provide the support and cushioning need to service the changing health-related needs of an aging population.