Wired reporter Jack Stewart explores the technology behind Boston-based startup WaveSense, which applies ground-penetrating radar developed at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory to give self-driving cars a way to map where they are without relying on visual clues or GPS. The technology, writes Stewart, was “first deployed in 2013 to help troops navigate in Afghanistan, where staying on path and avoiding landmines is a matter of life and death.”
Media Lab researchers have developed a desk that transforms based on the user’s mood, reports Madis Kabash for Quartz. Kabash explains that the desk collects, “over 30 biological signals including heart-rate, facial-expressions, and posture,” and then adjusts lighting, changes images on a screen and plays different sounds on a speaker to help the user destress.
Writing for The Boston Globe, Scott Kirsner highlights Perch, a company founded by alumnus Jacob Rothman to help improve safety for weightlifters. Kirsner explains that Perch developed a system for an iPad that allows users to, “log in to a weightlifting station and access a personal routine, which can be crafted by a coach.”
Boston Globe reporter Bette Keva spotlights SeaTrac Systems, Inc., which was founded by MIT alumni Buddy Duncan and James Herman, and has developed an autonomous, solar-powered boat. Herman explains that SeaTrac’s goal is to develop a boat that could be used on “dirty, dull, dangerous, or expensive” missions.
In an article for Forbes, Moira Vetter spotlights MIT Solve’s focus on social innovators. “[W]hile the world’s challenges are not always investment-worthy to VCs, they are costly to the countries and communities that incur the cost of those challenges,” says Vetter. “The world needs a few less high-tech gadgets and a few more incentivized Solvers.”
In an interview for Forbes, Pierson and Pete Krass speak with the ‘Edison of Medicine,’ Institute Prof. Robert Langer, about his career as a biomedical inventor and entrepreneur. Discussing why he started his first company Prof. Langer says, “I realized it was an effective path for transforming science into life-saving and life-improving inventions.”
TechCrunch reporter Sarah Perez spotlights Outfit, a startup co-founded by MIT alumnus Nadeem Mazen that is aimed at making grassroots-style political campaigning easier. Perez explains that Outfit “helps individual voters reach out to their own personal acquaintances, family and friends.”
The Echo Nest, an audio-tech company founded by MIT alumni, has identified the most danceable number one hit songs, writes Dan Kopf for Quartz. Echo Nest’s algorithm determines the “danceability” of a song based on the tempo and beat regularity, Kopf explains, “so a bridge that even briefly changes the mood is highly penalized.”
MIT alumna Stephanie Lampkin has been named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 List. As the founder and CEO of Blendoor, Lampkin “is determined to mitigate systemic bias in tech and beyond,” writes Ellen McGirt for Fortune.
Local government and business leaders think Boston could be a hub for the emerging “age-tech” industry, reports Robert Weisman for The Boston Globe. “We see this as a chance to make us a living laboratory and to bring the culture of innovation” to the problems of aging, says Joe Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab.
Gigi Levy Weiss writes for Forbes about the importance of social change in tech education. Highlighting MEET (Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow), an MIT-supported non-profit that connects and empowers Palestinian and Israeli students, Weiss notes that alumni of the program “have gone on to study, work and lead in the global tech industry, as well as in NGOs and government roles.”
Reporting for WBUR, Bruce Gellerman highlights how MIT Solve brings together innovators to tackle some of the world’s pressing challenges. "Putting your money where your social values are and making connections is what Solve is all about," observes Gellerman.
In an article for The Boston Globe about the growing interest in space exploration, Hiawatha Bray highlights how MIT researchers have pushed the field forward. Bray notes that places like MIT helped the US win the space race and, “continue as major centers of space research. And the ideas emerging from their labs may help our region punch above its weight.”
Prof. Joi Ito, director of the Media Lab, writes for Wired about how scientists are creating new ways to develop meat-free foods. Ito writes that it’s, “feasible to imagine a system that unleashes a culinary bonanza of nutritional, flavor and texture options for future chefs while also lowering the environmental impact of belching cows, concentrated animal-feeding operations, and expensive and energy-inefficient refrigerated supply chains.”
Forbes contributor Frederick Daso writes about a new MIT startup called Alba that is aimed at helping families in Latin America find qualified caregivers for children and the elderly. Daso explains that leveraging the “social networks of both the family and the prospective babysitter allows Alba to provide a babysitter for any parent.”