about option v MAC

Research at the Lab comprises interconnected developments in an unusual range of disciplines, such as software agents; machine understanding; how children learn; human and machine vision; audition; speech interfaces; wearable computers; affective computing; advanced interface design; tangible media; object-oriented video; interactive cinema; digital expression from text, to graphics, to sound; and new approaches to spatial imaging, nanomedia, and nanoscale sensing. For biological needs like feeling tired, hungry and thirsty, artifacts and built environment should be able to intelligently reflect and play an active role for fulfilling the natural needs.

more about option v MAC

Computer - enabled smart artifacts can be more thoughtful and considerate to explore the moment of needs in biological, ergonomic, emotional and situational ways. Artifacts can be equipped with sensors and actuators for being aware of people's needs and can provide fail-soft assistance. For biological needs like feeling tired, hungry and thirsty, artifacts and built environment should be able to intelligently reflect and play an active role for fulfilling the natural needs. For ergonomic needs, artifacts should be able to adapt themselves to make people feel comfortable. For emotional needs, artifacts could understand when they could become entertaining or communication media. For situational needs, artifacts should be aware of the current situation and add functional needs to it.

If anything can be certain about the future, it is that the influence of technology, especially digital technology, will continue to grow and to profoundly change how we express ourselves, how we communicate with each other and how we perceive, think about and interact with our world. These "mediating technologies" are only in the first stages of their modern evolution; they are still crude, unwieldy, un-personalized and poorly matched to the human needs of their users.

the Goal

Computers and computation are the most prominent common denominators of this multi-disciplinary merger of previously separate domains. For underlying the explosive advances of the various technologies involved, we are discovering and cultivating a new set of shared intellectual and practical concerns that are becoming the foundations of a new academic discipline.

Typically these students have extensive experience in the Lab and are engaged in interdisciplinary programs that emphasize Media Arts and Sciences. In some cases, an early decision is made at the beginning of their senior year regarding admission to the master's program.