Researchers at MIT have developed SuperLimbs, a pair of wearable robotic limbs that “can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall,” reports Brain Heater for TechCrunch. “The system, which is still in the prototype phase, responds directly to the wearer’s feedback,” writes Heater. “When sitting or lying down, it offers a constructive support to help them get back up while expending less energy — every extra bit helps in a situation like this.”
Nature reporter Amanda Heidt speaks with postdoctoral researcher Tigist Tamir about her experience using generative AI with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. “Whether I’m reading, writing or just making to-do lists, it’s very difficult for me to figure out what I want to say. One thing that helps is to just do a brain dump and use AI to create a boiled-down version,” Tamir explains. She adds, “I feel fortunate that I’m in this era where these tools exist.”
MIT researchers have developed a new technique that uses a large language model to allow robots to self-correct after making a mistake, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. “Researchers behind the study note that while imitation learning (learning to do a task through observation) is popular in the world of home robotics, it often can’t account for the countless small environmental variations that can interfere with regular operation, thus requiring a system to restart from square one,” writes Heater. “The new research addresses this, in part, by breaking demonstrations into smaller subsets."
Undark reporter Sarah Scoles spotlights Matt Jacobs '02 for his work with many California SAR (search and rescue) teams. “In 2015, Jacobs published a paper that took another look at the incident information in the large ISRID database (International Search & Rescue Incident Database),” writes Scoles. “Taking the largest ISRID categories – hikers, hunters, and gatherers – he tried to see how the terrain affected their choices.”
Augmental, an MIT spinoff, has created MouthPad, a tongue-controlled, computer mouse pad designed for people with disabilities, reports Zoya Hasan and Alex York for Forbes. The device is a “hands-free, custom fit mouthpiece for device control,” explains Hasan and York.
GBH reporter Megan Smith spotlights Open Style Lab, a nonprofit founded at MIT that aims to make fashion more accessible. Yasmin Keats, executive director of Open Style Lab, notes that the organization was founded in 2014 at MIT’s International Design Center to “show what was possible in fashion. We also looked at the importance of design and style and how it can change not only the way that you see yourself — but also looked at how it can be a vehicle to change the way that the world views disability.”
MIT researchers have developed a new robotic gripper that is able to grasp objects using reflexes, reports Mashable. “The Robo-Gripper has proximity and contact sensors which allows it to react to surfaces near objects to better grab them. The technology may allow these machines to be used in homes or other unique, unstructured environments.”
Augmental, an MIT spinoff, has developed MouthPad, an assistive device that provides wearers the ability to control Bluetooth-connected devices using their tongue, reports Haje Jan Kamps for TechCrunch. “The wide variety of control options embedded into the MouthPad means that it can be used in conjunction with many different devices,” writes Kamps.
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new approach to robotic gripping that incorporates reflexes to help grasp and sort objects. “The new system is built around an arm with two multi-joint fingers,” writes Heater. “There’s a camera on the base and sensors on the tips that record feedback. The system uses that data to adjust accordingly.”
Augmental, a startup co-founded by MIT graduates, has developed a Bluetooth mouthpiece that makes it easier for individuals with mobility issues to use computers, reports WHDH. “People with severe hand impairment are isolated in this world and it’s just not fair,” says co-founder Tomás Vega SM ‘19. “So, our interface seeks to help those people and enable them to access and to share with the world.”
Xander, an MIT spinoff founded by Alex Westner SM ’98, has developed glasses that generate real-time captions of conversations for the wearer, reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe. “The glasses have their own processor and front-facing microphones and are designed to convert conversational speech into text captions,” writes Pressman.
Alex Westner SM ’98 founded Xander, a company that uses augmented reality in personalized glasses to provide real-time closed captions for people with hearing loss, reports Dalvin Brown for The Wall Street Journal. “The glasses have an embedded display on the right side, where text appears almost as quickly as it’s picked up by a built-in microphone,” writes Brown. “There’s no wireless connection – all processing happens within the glasses.”
MIT researchers have developed a new magnet-based system to monitor muscle movements that could help make prosthetic limbs easier to control, reports Brianna Silva for WHDH.
Open Style Lab, a nonprofit initially started as a summer project at MIT in 2014 that is aimed at making fashion more accessible for people who are disabled, designed clothes for “Double Take,” a fashion event dedicated to raising awareness about the lives and needs of people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), reports Matthew Herper for STAT.
CSAIL researchers have developed a robotic arm equipped with a sensorized soft brush that can untangle hair, reports Douglas Belkin for The Wall Street Journal. “The laboratory brush is outfitted with sensors that detect tension," writes Belkin. “That tension reads as pain and is used to determine whether to use long strokes or shorter ones.”