Executive Director of the MIT Media Laboratory [Keynoter]

Walter Bender, former holder of the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Chair, is executive director of the MIT Media Laboratory and senior research scientist and director of the Media Lab’s Electronic Publishing group. Bender also directs the Media Lab’s Gray Matters special interest group, which focuses on technology’s impact on the aging population. In 1992, he founded the News in the Future consortium and is currently a member of the Lab’s SIMPLICITY, Things That Think, and Digital Life consortia. He received his BA from Harvard University in 1977, joined the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in 1978, and received his MS at MIT in 1980. A founding member of the Media Laboratory, he is engaged in the study of new information technologies, particularly those that affect people directly. Much of the research addresses the idea of building upon the interactive styles associated with existing media and extending them into domains where a computer is incorporated into the interaction. He has participated in much of the pioneering research in the field of electronic publishing and personalized interactive multimedia. In addition to his work with the Media Lab’s Electronic Publishing group, his recent projects include Blogdex, Multi-Lingual ConceptNet, and Second Messenger.

Links: Home page | MIT Media Laboratory | Electronic Publishing Group | Recent Media Lab Projects

Research Sample:
[under construction]