The Media Lab at MIT

What if your toaster was able to communicate with your coffee maker so that when you woke up in the morning your breakfast was ready? What if a page that you print, read once and then throw away could be erased and printed on all over again? What if the nametag you wear at a conference could exchange information with someone else's nametag? These are the kinds of things that researchers at MIT's famed Media Lab think about and work to make a reality. Officially opened in 1985, this think tank of innovation has shifted from early emphasis on digital video and multimedia toward understanding "how bits meet atoms: how electronic information overlaps with the everyday physical world." With approximately 170 corporate sponsors, the Media Lab is a classic example of the success that can result from collaboration between industry and academia. The Information section offers background, but check out the Research area for descriptions, demonstrations and insights into the work being done by the Things That Think consortium, the Toys of Tomorrow special interest group, the Tangible Media research team and others at the Media Lab.