Research
City Science

Looking beyond smart cities
Research
Space Exploration Initiative

Space Exploration Initiative
Project Research

Theme | CityScope

City Science researchers are developing a slew of tangible and digital platforms dedicated to solving spatial design and urban planning c...
Project Research

Tools for mapping the molecular architecture and wiring of the brain

Complex biological systems such as brain circuits are extended 3-D structures made out of nanoscale building blocks such as proteins, RNA...
ML_logo_160W
Inventing the future of digitally augmented objects and environments.
Archived
Research
Affective Computing

Advancing wellbeing by using new ways to communicate, understand, and respond to emotion
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Personal Robots

Building socially engaging robots and interactive technologies to help people live healthier lives, connect with others, and learn better
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Conformable Decoders

Converting the patterns of nature and the human body into beneficial signals and energy
Research
Open Agriculture (OpenAg)

Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAg)
Project Research

Miniaturized Neural System for Chronic, Local Intracerebral Drug Delivery (MiNDS)

Recent advances in medications for neurodegenerative disorders are expanding opportunities for improving the debilitating symptoms suffer...
Research
Molecular Machines

Engineering at the limits of complexity with molecular-scale parts
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Camera Culture

Making the invisible visible–inside our bodies, around us, and beyond–for health, work, and connection
Archived
Research
Living Mobile

Enhancing mobile life through improved user interactions
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Mediated Matter

Designing for, with, and by nature
Project Research

Conformal, Implantable Viscosity, and Electrochemical Sensors

Continuous localized tissue monitoring and disease treatmentThe ability to continuously monitor physical patterns, such as pH in the...
Research
Sculpting Evolution

Exploring evolutionary and ecological engineering
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Biomechatronics

Enhancing human physical capability
Archived
Research
Design Fiction

Sparking discussion about the social, cultural, and ethical implications of emerging technologies through design and storytelling
Project Research

Agonist-antagonist Myoneural Interface (AMI)

Humans can accurately sense the position, speed, and torque of their limbs, even with their eyes shut. This sense, known as proprioceptio...
Project Research

Near-Infrared Imaging for Detecting Dental Caries

Two-dimensional radiographs are commonly used for evaluating sub-surface hard structures of teeth, but they have low sensitivity for earl...
Research
Synthetic Neurobiology

Revealing insights into the human condition and repairing brain disorders via novel tools for mapping and fixing brain computations
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Responsive Environments

Augmenting and mediating human experience, interaction, and perception with sensor networks
Project Research

3D Neuromuscular Model of the Human Ankle-Foot Complex

During the gait cycle, the human ankle complex serves as a primary power generator while simultaneously stabilizing the entire limb. Thes...
Project Research

Effect of a Powered Ankle on Shock Absorption and Interfacial Pressure

Lower-extremity amputees face a series of potentially serious post-operative complications. Among these are increased risk of further amp...
Project Research

Biplanar Fluoroscopy Gait Analysis

 Biplanar fluoroscopy (BiFlo) enables three-dimensional bone kinematics analysis using x-ray videos and bone geometry from segmented...
Research
Community Biotechnology

Community Biotechnology
How software can act as an assistant to the user rather than a tool, by learning from interaction and by proactively anticipating the user's
Archived
Project Research

Flexible piezoelectric devices for gastrointestinal motility sensing

Improvements in ingestible electronics with the capacity to sense physiological and pathophysiological states have transformed the standa...
Article Research

How the body could power pacemakers and other implantable devices

Batteries wear out, but breathing, sweat and body heat might provide alternative fuel.
Future Storytelling
Archived
Publication Research

Vomit Comet Physiology: Autonomic Changes in Novice Flyers

Johnson, K.T., Taylor, S., Fedor, S., Jaques, N., Chen, W., Picard, R.W. "Vomit Comet Physiology: Autonomic Changes in Novice Flyers." Proceedings of the International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Honolulu, Hawaii, July 2018.
Research
Center for Extreme Bionics

Center for Extreme Bionics
Article Research

Surgical technique improves sensation, control of prosthetic limb

New study describes first human implementation of novel approach to limb amputation.
Project Research

Tools for Recording High-Speed Brain Dynamics

The brain is a three-dimensional, densely-wired circuit that computes via large sets of widely distributed neurons interacting at fast ti...
Project Research

Physio FreeFall

This project seeks to examine the effects of altered gravity on an individual’s physiology during parabolic flight. Specifically, we will...
Research
Health 0.0

Health 0.0
Project Research

An Osseointegrated Prosthesis with Bi-Directional Neural Communication

Recent advancements in orthopedic implants have made way for a new generation of bionic limbs that attach directly to the skeleton. Lever...
Project Research

Near-Infrared Transillumination Guides Administration of Dental 2D Radiography and Cone Beam Computed Tomography Imaging

Two-dimensional radiographs are commonly used for evaluating sub-surface hard structures of teeth, but they have low sensitivity for earl...
Project Research

Detecting Biomarkers with Printable Paper Diagnostics

Paper diagnostics can be used for affordable and scalable biomarker detection. We propose new methods for stabilizing cellulose-based imm...
Publication Research

Near-Infrared Imaging for Detecting Caries and Structural Deformities in Teeth

K. Angelino, D. A. Edlund, P. Shah. Near-Infrared Imaging for Detecting Caries and Structural Deformities in Teeth. Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine. 10.1109/JTEHM.2017.2695194
Project Research

Antimicrobials to treat infectious diseases without leading to resistant bacteria

"Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and m...
Project Research

Participatory Biotechnology

The development of biotechnologies since the era of recombinant DNA in the 1970s has occurred largely via the interaction of academic, in...
Center for Civic Media
Project Research

Prototype Strategies for Treating Brain Disorders

New technologies for recording neural activity, controlling neural activity, or building brain circuits, may be capable someday of servin...
Project Research

Understanding Normal and Pathological Brain Computations

We are providing our tools to the community, and also using them within our lab, to analyze how specific brain mechanisms (molecular, cel...
Project Research

Optogenetics: Molecules Enabling Neural Control by Light

We have pioneered the development of fully genetically encoded reagents that, when targeted to specific cells, enable their physiology to...
Project Research

Conformal Piezoelectric Mechanical Energy Harvesters: Mechanically Invisible Human Dynamos

Nearly all classes of wearable and implantable biomedical devices depend on battery power for continuous operation. However, the life spa...
Project Research

Computational Biomechanics

This research track focuses on the use of computational (and experimental) techniques to understand the biomechanical behavior of human t...
Archived
Research
Electronic Publishing

How to distill meaning from complex everyday experiences.
Article Research

Tiny implant opens way to deliver drugs deep into the brain

Scientists have created a hair-thin implant that can drip medications deep into the brain by remote control and with pinpoint precision.
Project Research

Preventing Tick-Borne Disease by Permanently Immunizing Mice

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne infection in North America. People are infected when bitten by ticks; ticks are typically in...
Post Research

Launching a lab

How Canan Dagdeviren is going about setting up a new research group at the Media Lab.
Post Research

Meet the YellowBox

The Conformable Decoders group is now home to a state-of-the-art cleanroom called the "YellowBox."
Article Research

Materials Research Society (MRS) Bulletin highlighted our recent GI paper from Nature Biomedical Engineering

Piezoelectric sensors have many applications including as vibration sensors, accelerometers, energy harvesters, and even electronic drum pad
Article Research

Science Translational Medicine journal features our recent paper, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, as an Editors' Choice article

Getting in Touch with Your Inner Stomach: An ingestible and flexible piezoelectric device enables sensing of changes in the GI tract.
Project Research

Revolutionizing Amputation Surgery for the Restoration of Natural Neural Sensation and Mobility

Lower-extremity amputation surgery has not seen significant change since the Civil War. This research is focused on the development of no...
Project Research

Neural Interface Technology for Advanced Prosthetic Limbs

Recent advances in artificial limbs have resulted in the provision of powered ankle and knee function for lower extremity amputees and po...
Project Research

Synthetic Apiary

The Synthetic Apiary proposes a new kind of environment, bridging urban and organismic scales by exploring one of the most important orga...
Archived
Project Research

Forget Me Not: The Botany of Desire & Loss

Nothing triggers memories like smell. Momentary, fleeting, and at times unexpected, one scent can conjure up the warmth of a grandparent...
Archived
Archived
Project Research

Human Perfume

I am currently creating perfumes that capture the smell of individuals who have emotional significance to me. An exploration in the use ...
Archived
Archived
Project Research

Brain-Controlled Interface for the Motile Control of Spermatozoa

The reproductive organs of the female body have long been a site of contention, where opposing ideologies in religion, politics, and cult...
Archived
Project Research

Synthetic Genome Engineering

We are currently developing novel DNA editing technologies to broaden the scope of genome engineering. Our strategy is based on identifyi...
Article Research

Scientists Made Music From the Human Microbiome, and It’s Seriously Cool

There are many mysteries of human biology. Among those perhaps least considered, what do our bodies sound like?This was the question on t...
Project Research

Health Sensing using Wireless Signals

Today’s health sensors (which monitor breathing, heartbeats, steps, etc.) require their users to wear them on their bodies. In contrast, ...
Article Research

Voters to decide on intro of altered mice to combat Lyme

Residents are invited to weigh in on a plan to release genetically-modified mice on Nantucket to combat tick-borne diseases
Article Research

Cracking the Genetic Code with Kevin Esvelt

Kevin Esvelt leads the Sculpting Evolution Group at MIT. Their work explores “evolutionary and ecological engineering and responsive science
Research
Object-Based Media

Changing storytelling, communication, and everyday life through sensing, understanding, and new interface technologies
Project Research

Tranceflora—Amy's Glowing Silk

We collaborated with NIAS (National Institute of Agricultural Science) to genetically engineer silkworms to develop new kinds of silk for...