- Program in Media Arts and Sciences
- Responsive Environments
Joseph Paradiso is the Alexander W. Dreyfoos (1954) Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Responsive Environments group and serves as the Media Lab’s Academic Head.
He received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1981 as a K.T. Compton Fellow and received his BS in electrical engineering and physics summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1977. He joined the Media Lab in 1994 after developing spacecraft control and sensor systems at Draper Laboratory and high-energy physics detectors at CERN Geneva and ETH Zurich. He is a pioneer in the development of the Internet of Things and renowned for work in wearable sensing, energy harvesting technology, and electronic music systems and controllers.
His current research explores how sensor networks and AI augment and mediate human experience, interaction and perception. This has encompassed wireless sensing systems, wearable and body sensor networks, ubiquitous/pervasive computing and the Internet of Things, human-computer interfaces, space-based systems, sensate materials, digital twins in virtual worlds, and interactive music/media. He has written over 400 articles and papers and holds circa 30 US patents in these areas.
Joe has also been designing, building, and using his own electronic music synthesizers since the early 1970s, amassing one of the world’s most unique and extensive custom modular systems, which has been featured in installations worldwide. He has always enjoyed composing electronic soundscapes, and seeking out edgy and unusual music from across the world.
He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and a Senior Member of the AIAA.