Hashim Sarkis, dean of SA+P, speaks with Vanessa Quirk of Metropolis about MIT’s widespread presence at the 2016 Venice Biennale, the Institute’s approach to architectural challenges and its interdisciplinary ethos. “MIT thrives on what it calls complex societal problems,” says Sarkis. “And what better complex societal problems are there today than cities and architecture and the environment.”
A new study by MIT researchers finds that student use of personal computing technology in classrooms has a negative effect on academic performance, reports Richard Adams for The Guardian. “The researchers suggested that removing laptops and iPads from classes was the equivalent of improving the quality of teaching,” writes Adams.
Bloomberg West broadcasts live from the MIT campus in a special segment highlighting cutting-edge research underway across campus and MIT’s role in driving innovation. “In general, technology can help people,” says Prof. John Leonard. “That’s one of the things I believe as an MIT professor is that technology can make the world a better place.”
Popular Science reporter Mary Beth Griggs writes that in an MIT course students developed a fleet of duckie-adorned self-driving taxis for a village called “Duckietown.” “Each of the robot taxis is equipped with only a single camera, and makes its way around the roads without any preprogrammed maps."
MIT researchers have developed an application to help improve driver safety, according to the Associated Press. The app, “measures driving behaviors including speeding, acceleration, hard turning, harsh braking and phone distractions. The results can then be reviewed…and scores posted on a leaderboard where drivers can compare one another.”
Prof. Carlo Ratti and graduate student Matthew Claudel write for Harvard Business Review about how technology is changing office environments. “Throughout history, buildings have been rigid and uncompromising, more like a corset than a T-shirt,” they write. “With better data on occupancy, we could design a built environment that adapts to humans, rather than the inverse.”
Prof. Emilio Frazzoli speaks with Nicole Dungca of The Boston Globe about his new startup nuTonomy, which is developing a fleet of driverless taxis for Singapore. Frazzoli explains that he feels the biggest impact of autonomous vehicles is in “really changing the way we think of personal mobility, or mobility, in general.”
Anthony Cuthbertson writes for Newsweek that MIT researchers have developed a drone that is capable of mimicking a person’s drawings. Cutherbertson explains that, “the drone has been modified to carry a pen, allowing it to copy the actions of a human hand and scale it up through a combination of mechanical and algorithmic methods.”
MIT startup nuTonomy is developing driverless taxis to serve as a form of public transit in Singapore, reports Nyshka Chandran for CNBC. “The driverless taxis will follow optimal paths for picking up and dropping off passengers to reduce traffic congestion,” Chandran explains.
Fortune reporter Robert Hackett writes that MIT spinoff nuTonomy is developing a fleet of driverless taxis for Singapore. Hackett writes that the company “could become the first to operate fully self-driving cars, known as ‘level four,’ in a city commercially.”
Prof. Yoel Fink speaks with Radio Boston’s Meghna Chakrabarti about the new textiles manufacturing institute, which will be led by MIT. Fink explains textiles could be developed to do everything from storing energy to gathering “clinically meaningful information…and you can then infer not only where you are today, but where your body is heading and where your health is heading.”
Defense Secretary Ash Carter has announced that the nation’s first textile manufacturing institute will be based out of MIT, according to the AP. "Fibers and fabrics are among the earliest forms of human expression, yet have changed very little over the course of history," explains Prof. Yoel Fink. "All this is about to change."
WBUR reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka reports on the new textiles manufacturing institute, to be led by MIT, which was announced by White House and state officials last week. “We’re expecting to see the rebirth of fabrics and really a new industry come up around this area, and Massachusetts is very well position to do it,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Washington Post reporter Matt McFarland writes about the new consortium, led by MIT, aimed at developing the next generation of fabrics. “While the tech industry talks of “wearable” devices…next-generation fabrics would literally create wearable computing devices that hang in our closets. What looks like a typical shirt might actually have some of the abilities of your smartphone or smartwatch.”
A public-private consortium led by MIT has won a national competition to create a manufacturing institute aimed at moving the textile industry into the digital age, reports Steve Lohr for The New York Times. “This is about reimagining what a fabric is, and rebirthing textiles into a high-tech industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.