The MIT Media Laboratory occupies a unique position in the rapidly evolving landscape of new media and information technologies. It was founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte and the late Jerome Wiesner (former science adviser to President John F. Kennedy and former president of MIT), who foresaw the convergence of computing, publishing, and broadcast, fueled by changes in the communications industry.
Since opening its doors in the fall of 1985, the Media Laboratory has pursued an educational and research mission that has helped to create now-familiar areas such as digital video and multimedia, and has brought together disciplines such as cognition, electronic music,
graphic design, video, and holography, as well as work in computation and human-machine interfaces.
True to the vision of its founders, today's Laboratory continues to focus on the study, invention, and creative use of digital technologies, and is now exploring new
frontiers, such as wireless, “viral” communications; wearable computing; machines capable of commonsense reasoning; new forms of artistic expression; and how children learn. These themes outline a future where the bits of the digital realm interact seamlessly with the
atoms of our physical world, and where our machines not only respond to our commands, but also understand our emotions””a future where digital innovation becomes
the domain of all.
The Laboratory is beginning the 21st century with plans for a major expansion: a building adjacent””and connected”” to the current Media Laboratory, which will
double its current space.
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