Traditionally, the Media Lab has been a great place to study human-computer interaction.
Lately, I think they've gone more towards the digital fabrication route.

At least from an architect's standpiont

the media lab is still very much about the intersection between human/social behavior and technology.  mediated matter is just one research group out of many.  I think there are only two architecture people running groups right now - and only one of them is overtly about fabrication.

anyway - some of this stuff makes its way out into firms locally (there are a couple of alumni who are getting pretty close to starting to sell a relatively cheap consumer-grade 3d printer) - but the biggest impact I've seen around here is the work various people at the medialab have done with community outreach, education, and urban planning.

Toasteroven - do you live in the Boston area? I'd be interested in learning more about the projects you mentioned...

are you in the boston area?  there are better ways to get connected with them than some anonymous internet literary device.  I can give you some hints on how to proceed, but it's up to you to follow them.  clue number 1:  tent city fablab.

No I'm not in the boston area.

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anonymous internet literary device

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Not sure what you mean by this but thanks for the clue I guess.

sorry - a bit cranky last night...

in planning - what what I understand there are a few people at the media lab who have partnered with the city of boston in creating new urban mechanics - which uses mobile technology to crowdsource information so that the city can better respond to issues...

in education - there's scratch and pico crickets - which are meant to introduce younger kids to concepts in computer science and interaction design...

in community outreach - there's the fab labs - which are free and open to the public mini-hacker spaces (where you can use tools like CNC routers and laser cutters, electronic equipment, sewing machines, etc...).

plus - numerous local companies got their start with tech developed at the medialab - the people who make the screens for the kindle, the game company that makes guitar hero and rock band... just to name a couple.   the programming language processing (which was developed by architecture students)- and arduino started there...

and that's just the tip of the iceberg...  are you interested in studying there?  in reality it's mostly people with at least some background in computer science, a few other random fields, and a small handful of architecture students.  a pretty amazing place, though, and it's always fun to see what's going on  - but most of it usually has absolutely no bearing on what I typically do in practice.  the 3d printing thing is promising, though...