Pattie Maes

Pattie Maes is an Associate Professor of Media, Arts and Sciences at MIT. She founded and runs the Fluid Interfaces research group. Previously she founded and ran the Software Agents research group.

email: pattie <at> media* | homepage

Marcelo Coelho

Marcelo Coelho is a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab. His work explores how technology can refashion communication by incorporating computation into common substrates and materials. Some of his projects include shape-changing garments, flying robots and edible circuits. Marcelo also holds a BFA in Computation Arts from Concordia University and, before joining the Fluid Interfaces Group, he was a research partner at XS Labs developing wearable technology and interactive textiles.

projects | homepage | email: marcelo <at> media*

Doug Fritz

Data, Data, Data, how do we push the limits of human comprehension of information though computation and design. How do we utilize what humans are good at (like spatial memory) to create intelligent interfaces into the processing of vast amounts of spatially aware information. Doug comes from a background of both Computer Science and Fine Art and is currently a second year graduate student. On a more meta interest level he is drawn to the interaction between objects, people, and culture. Regarding those elements he enjoys the process of analyzing, simulating, exploring, and understanding their subtle inter-dependent lives. His most fulfilling moments are when a project takes something immense and difficult to comprehend and makes it simple and familiar; as well as conversely when it takes the simple and familiar and makes you realize you never really understand it in full. Before the Fluid Interfaces Group, he received a B.S. in Computer Science, and B.F.A. in Fine Art both from Carnegie Mellon University. Past work includes an internship at IBM Collaborative User Experience, and full time work at Yahoo! Design Innovation Team.

projects | homepage | email: doug <at> media*

Seth Hunter

Seth is an artist and developer interested in designing new social and communicative interfaces with computational tools.

projects | homepage | email: hunters <at> media*

Natan Linder

Natan is a graduate student in the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab. His work fuses design and engineering to create new human experiences. Natan holds a BA in Computer Science from the IDC in Herzeliya and, just before joining the Fluid Interfaces group he worked at Heartland Robotics, prior to that he worked at Samsung Electronics and Sun Microsystems.

projects | homepage | email: linder <at> media*

David Merrill

David is a third year Ph.D. student in the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab. His research interests revolve around expanding human capabilities with creative, thoughtfully designed technology.

projects | homepage | email: dmerrill <at> media*

Pranav Mistry

Pranav Mistry is second year PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT Media Lab. Pranav is passionate about integrating the digital informational experience with our real world interactions. He holds a Master in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and Master of Design from IIT Bombay. Pranav received his Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering. Before joining MIT, He also worked with Microsoft as a UX researcher. Pranav’s research interests include Gestural and Tangible Interaction, Augmented Reality, Ubiquitous Computing, AI, Machine Vision, Collective Intelligence and Robotics.

projects | homepage | email: pranav <at> media*

Pol Pla

I'm a visiting student from Barcelona.I will be around until next June working on my master thesis -- I still don't have a clue on what I'll be doing so any suggestions are welcome :) --; Meanwhile I will happy to collaborate in different projects around the lab. My academic background is in computer science, however I have always worked as a Graphic/Interactive Designer. I am part of a creative interaction collective based in Barcelona: Multitouch Barcelona (more info: www.multitouch-barcelona.com).

projects | email: pol <at> media*

Sajid Sadi

Sajid Sadi is a fourth year PhD candidate and research assistant at the Media Lab. His current work focuses on objects that help people think about their actions and change their behavior based on subtle, ambient nudges delivered at the moment of action. As the world becomes more rich in media, there has been a proliferation of methods via which outside entities can affect our actions and decision-making. His work attempts to harness these techniques and combine them with experimental work in smart materials and ambient interfaces to allow people to benefit from the rich, interactive environment that surround us today.

projects | homepage | email: sajid <at> media*

Aaron Zinman

Aaron is a PhD candidate researching novel computational models and interaction techniques to help navigate virtual social spaces. He is primarily concerned with helping technology better meld with existing social norms and conventions, thus creating new opportunities for computer mediated communications. The majority of his research at MIT was performed with Judith Donath in the Sociable Media Group. He holds an SM from the Media Lab, and a BS in Cognitive Science specializing in Computation from the University of California at San Diego. Aaron has taken off time during the PhD to work for IBM Research and Google.

projects | homepage | email: azinman <at> media*

David Bouchard

David is a second year MS student at the Media Lab. His background is in computation art. He received a double major in Computer Science and Fine Arts from Concordia University. David's research interests include interactive environments, displays for public spaces, musical controllers and emergent behaviour systems.

projects | homepage | email: davidb <at> media*

Enrico Costanza

Enrico Costanza graduated from the Media Lab in 2006 and is a currently a Research Assistant and PhD student in the Laboratoire de design et media, newly created at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne by Prof Jeffrey Huang. His research in Switzerland will focus on the intersection between Urban Studies / Architecture / Design and Interactive Technology, especially mobile devices. He is interested in the use of technology for artistic expression and interpersonal communication, and aims to design technology that is natural for people to use.

projects | homepage | email: enrico <at> media*

Assaf Feldman

projects | homepage | email: assaf <at> media*

David Gatenby

David's work at MIT built off his previous work at NYU and explores how endowing physical objects with intelligence and behavior and assimilating computers into the real world can make interacting with them more natural. His work at NYU focused on multi-agent systems, visual modeling, and virtual characters.

projects | homepage | email: dagg <at> media*

Brad Lassey

Brad Lassey is interested in user interface design and is currently working on location based messaging for mobile devices.

projects | homepage | email: lassey <at> media*

Xinyu H. Liu

Hugo Liu is a second-year doctoral candidate who is interested in how subconscious phenomena such as identity, aesthetics, emotion, and memory can be harnessed for interactive experience. Hugo has a background in cognitive linguistics, commonsense computing, and philosophy. Xinyu H. Liu

projects | homepage | email: hugo <at> media*

James Teng

James Teng is blending his interests in social science, design, and computing to design new ways of thinking about the interaction between human and computer and the environment. He is doing research in building up objects and services that push computing intelligence into the background, with the objective of enriching our understanding and perception of the environment and our inner/public self. He got his master and bachelor degree from National Taiwan University, Taiwan, and has the background in EECS and Design.

projects | homepage | email: jteng <at> media*

Alyssa Wright

projects | homepage | email: alyssa <at> media*

Amit Zoran

Amit is a second year graduate student in the Fluid Interfaces group.
 He has background is in computer engineering, signal and image processing on the one hand and art and design on the other.

His work focuses on re-thinking traditional craftsmanship in our “high tech” era, specifically in the fields of music and art. More than once we feel that “old” isn’t necessarily bad but sometimes actually better i.e. the term “vintage”, when it comes to musical instruments. Can technology make a change and add a trademark value without damaging the old ones? Amit is interested in exploring how technology can be “cool” while still preserving the user experience quality of the “legendary”.

projects | homepage | email: amitz <at> media*

Orit Zuckerman

Orit's interest is to create a new class of “connected objects” that remember our behavior over time, and leverage machine learning to redefine the way we use objects. She is interested in taking passive objects like portraits and transform them into a “living agents” that will enrich our environment in an evocative, intuitive way and strengthen the connection between people and the objects they care about.

projects | homepage | email: orit <at> media*