MIT Media Lab

Watch: During a talk at the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech, Professor Hiroshi Ishii shared the evolution of his vision-driven design philosophy — from Tangible Bits to Radical Atoms, and finally to TeleAbsence — since joining the Media Lab in 1995. “Life has an endpoint,” he says, “but the future is never-ending. Technology soon becomes obsolete, but true vision is everlasting. What legacy will you leave for those living in 2200?”

CHCI@VT Distinguished Speaker, Hiroshi Ishii, October 31, 2025 Vision-Driven Design: Beyond Tangible Bits toward Radical Atoms, Be...

In IEEE Spectrum, Media Lab graduate student Siddharth Somasundaram talks about new research from the Camera Culture group demonstrating how consumer-grade LiDAR sensors, which cost less than $100, can help users see around corners.

“We think the most important implication is the democratization of the technology,” Somasundaram says. “When technologies like this become accessible, people often discover applications far beyond what the original researchers imagined.”

Can Your Phone’s Lidar Sensors See Around Corners? Low-cost systems could improve robots, autonomous vehicles

Congratulations to everyone graduating in the 2025–26 academic year! We're so proud of everything you've accomplished here, and we can't wait to see what you do next.

Meet the graduates from the Program in Media Arts and Sciences and the Media Lab:
https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/congratulations-to-everyone-graduating-in-2026/

It’s a gorgeous day, and it’s yours, Class of 2026. Congratulations! 👏

Congratulations to Media Lab Professor Mitchel Resnick on receiving the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award from the ACM - Association for Computing Machinery! This award is presented annually to an outstanding educator recognized for advancing new teaching methodologies, effecting new curriculum development or expansion in Computer Science and Engineering, or making a significant contribution to the educational mission of ACM.

Professor Resnick was recognized for his long-lasting contributions to creative computing, through the development of new ways for young people to create and collaborate within learning communities, including Scratch — the world's largest coding community for young people, with more than 150 million registered users who have created over 1 billion projects.

He shares the award with Yasmin B. Kafai, Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mitchel Resnick receives ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award – MIT Media Lab Mitchel Resnick receives the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for contributions to creative computing.

SpaceCHI 2026 will take place at the NASA Ames Research Center and online September 24–25, 2026. Submissions are due July 17.

SpaceCHI adopts a broad interdisciplinary scope, welcoming papers and posters on a wide range of subjects related to human-computer interaction in space exploration.

SpaceCHI 4.0: A Conference on Human-Computer Interaction for Space Exploration – MIT Media Lab SpaceCHI 4.0 at the European Astronaut CentreJune 23-24, 2025After three successful annual workshops, SpaceCHI is evolving into a standalone conferen…

Researchers from the MIT Media Lab, K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, and McGovern Institute for Brain Research have developed the first living implant — a biohybrid system that uses rewired nerves to revive paralyzed organs. Their study, published in Nature (Nature Portfolio), introduces a myoneural actuator (MNA) that reprograms living muscles into fatigue-resistant, computer-controlled motors that can be implanted inside the body to restore movement in organs. The work opens the door to a future in which paralyzed organs could be restored, or signals like hunger and touch could be relayed back to the brain.

Turning muscles into motors gives static organs new life A new biohybrid system reprograms living muscles into fatigue-resistant, computer-controlled motors that can be implanted inside the body to restore movement in organs. Development of the myoneural actuator was led by Hugh Herr and colleagues at MIT.

Tod Machover, Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media and Faculty Director of the MIT Media Lab, will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America, the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Conservatory.

Machover joins a roster of previous recipients that includes Stevie Wonder, Yo-Yo Ma, Herbie Hancock, Ella Fitzgerald, and Leonard Bernstein.

"Tod Machover's genuinely groundbreaking and prescient work at the intersection of music and technology, along with an overall and broad impact on the American music scene, make him an ideal recipient for the Peabody Medal," said Peabody Institute Dean Fred Bronstein.

Machover is recognized for creating music that breaks traditional artistic and cultural boundaries and for developing technologies that expand music's possibilities for everyone. His current projects include The Overstory, an opera based on Richard Powers' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set to premiere in spring 2028, and a new work for orchestra and live AI that will be premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in fall 2026.

Machover will also deliver the commencement addresses at the Peabody Conservatory's 2026 Graduation ceremonies on May 20 in Baltimore.

🔗 Read more: https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/tod-machover-to-receive-george-peabody-medal-for-outstanding-contributions-to-music-and-dance-in-america/
📸 Image credit: Natalia Tsarkova