MIT Admissions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Matt McGann '00

Oct 8, 2006

Videos and photos and more

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Lots of fun stuff to check out!

Peter Houk, director of the MIT Glass Lab, has been making the rounds on the video blog (or vlog, if you prefer) circuit.

First, he appeared on DriveTime:

Then, he appeared on Rocketboom:

MAKEblog highlighted the Simmons Hall LED project by Dheera '06 (though the subsequent traffic seems to have taken down Dheera's site):

Check out (also: 1, 2) the annual parade of elephants, which delighted folks across campus this past Thursday (I, of course, missed it for the 11th consecutive year). Previous blog coverage: Daniel, 2005 | Ben, 2005

At the Media Lab, there's a project called Topobo that's interesting. Lots of videos, including this one [QT, 6.8 MB].

Finally today, over on YouTube, there's a popular video featuring Professor Randall Davis and his ASSIST project. I promise you, this is pretty cool.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Hey, my friend Laura '06 worked on Topobo back when she was a freshman. I didn't know it was still going.

Posted by: Mollie on October 8, 2006

Holy crap, that sketching thing is beyond awesome.

I heart this place. =P

Posted by: Laura on October 8, 2006

Thanks for the cool videos!

The sketching program/mechanism is amazing.

and LOL @ ASSIST: A Shrewd Sketch Interpretation and Simulation Tool

Posted by: Candace on October 8, 2006

Awesome videos. I saw the assist video earlier this week. That's so cool. MIT people are always doing such awesome projects. Makes me want to come here all the more.

Posted by: Rach on October 8, 2006

Wow, I got a kick out of the ASSIST video. Its amazing. I agree with Rach, MIT people have the coolest projects. I wouldnt doubt that they have the most fun. Hopefully one day I can be apart of the action in MIT.

Posted by: Sean on October 8, 2006

The assist video is just awesome.

Posted by: Vihang on October 9, 2006

Hi Matt

I send you an email 3 times asking about the application. You probably didn't get it. Should I send it again?

Ankit Chandra
Gaborone, Botswana

Posted by: Ankit Chandra on October 9, 2006

Hey Matt,
My MIT admissions page lists an interviewer that does not live in my state. I emailed the admissions office and they sent me the name and phone number of the same interviewer. I sent another email about a week ago and still haven't received a response. Who do I need to contact about getting this problem fixed? I need to find out who my interviewer is soon so that I can get everything done in time for EA.


Thanks,
Saang Lee

Posted by: Saang Lee on October 9, 2006

hey,
wonderin about that skecthing program..
i kind of dreaming about three dimesional thing...
like all those things hovering right in middle of the air..
if that's really possible?

Posted by: harmeet on October 9, 2006

Harmeet -
Great idea! It would probably be difficult to get the computer to interpret your 3d sketch, but its CERTAINLY within today's capabilities to calculate the physics for a few 3D pendulums, balls, slopes, etc and then render the result. The main problem would be making a 3d sketching system. That would be difficult. One possibility would be a toolbox with pendulums, predefined shapes, etc. But that sort of reduces the novelty of a program where the computer recognizes your 'sketches'...

Anyway, ASSIST is great at dealing with 1 plane. (I've actually tried it myself at the MIT museum.. Its absolutely amazing.) Most applications only really need 1 plane to see how their things will work. I think the idea of ASSIST was to quickly test if an idea is feasible. Technical drawings, 3d considerations, etc. aren't the main point.

Well, thanks for that question, Harmeet! grin
-Adam

Posted by: Adam on October 10, 2006

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