"Speech to Reality: Generative AI and Robotic Assembly for Making Physical Objects," a project from the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), has been selected as one of four winners in Academic Excellence in Fast Company's 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards.

The project is an AI-driven robotic assembly system that turns words into physical objects. From a simple speech prompt, the system uses 3D generative AI to generate a design, and a robotic arm assembles it using reusable modular parts — creating an object in minutes. Users across all levels of design expertise can speak objects into existence.

The team includes CBA graduate student Miana Smith, CBA Director and MIT Professor Neil Gershenfeld, and other collaborators from the MIT Department of Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, EECS, and CSAIL.

Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards honor colleges and universities at the forefront of innovative design, where collaborations linking students, professors, and groundbreaking technology bring seemingly impossible ideas to life.