60 Minutes - MIT Media Lab: Making ideas into reality - CBS ...

Back in the 1980's, a laboratory of misfits foresaw our future. Touch screens, automated driving instructions, wearable technology and ... CBSNewsApp UkraineCrisis COVIDPandemic CBSNewsLive FullEpisodes EssentialsShopping CBSStore WatchCBSNews Backinthe1980's,alaboratoryofmisfitsforesawourfuture.Touchscreens,automateddrivinginstructions,wearabletechnologyandelectronicinkwerealldevelopedattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyinaplacetheycalltheMediaLab.It'saresearchlabandgraduateschoolprogramthatlongagooutgrewitsname.Lastyear,wefirsttoldyouhowit's creatingtechnologiestogrowfoodinthedesert,controlourdreamsandconnectthehumanbraintotheinternet.Comehavealookatwhatwefoundinaplaceyoucouldcall--theFutureFactory."TheMediaLabisthisgloriousmixture,thisrenaissance,wherewebreakdowntheseformaldisciplinesandwemixitallupandweseewhatpopsout."ToArnavKapur,agraduatestudentintheMediaLab,thefutureissilent.He'sdevelopedasystemtosurftheinternetwithhismind.ArnavKapur:Whathappensiswhenyou'rereadingorwhenyou'retalkingtoyourself,yourbraintransmitselectricalsignalstoyourvocalcords.Youcanactuallypickthesesignalsupandyoucangetcertaincluesastowhatthepersonintendstospeak. ScottPelley:Sothebrainissendinganelectricalsignalforawordthatyouwouldnormallyspeakbutyourdeviceisinterceptingthatsignal?ArnavKapur:Itis ScottPelley:Soinsteadofspeakingtheword,yourdeviceissendingitintoacomputer. ArnavKapur:That'scorrect.ScottPelley:That'sunbelievable.Let'sseehowthisworks.Sowetriedhim. ScottPelley:Whatis45,689dividedby67?ArnavKapur:Sure.Hesilentlyasksthecomputerandthenhearstheanswerthroughvibrationstransmittedthroughhisskullandintohisinnerear.ArnavKapur:Sixeightonepointninetwofive.Exactlyright. CorrespondentScottPelleytestsArnavKapur'ssystemthatallowsuserstosurftheinternetwiththeirmind CBSNews ScottPelley:Onemore.What'sthelargestcityinBulgariaandwhatisthepopulation?Thescreenshowshowlongittakesthecomputertoreadthewordsthathe'ssayingtohimself. ArnavKapur:Sofia,1.21million.ScottPelley:Thatiscorrect.YoujustGoogledthat.ArnavKapur:Idid.ScottPelley:Youcouldbeanexpertinanysubject.Youhavetheentireinternetinyourhead.ArnavKapur:That'stheidea.IdeasarethecurrencyofMIT'sMediaLab.Thelabisasix-storytowerofBabelwhere230graduatestudentsspeakdialectsofart,engineering,biology,physicsandcoding,alltranslatedintoinnovation.HughHerr:TheMediaLabisthisgloriousmixture,thisrenaissance,wherewebreakdowntheseformaldisciplinesandwemixitallupandweseewhatpopsout.That'sthemagic,thatintellectualdiversity. HughHerrisaprofessorwholeadsanadvancedprostheticslab. ScottPelley:Andwhatdoyougetfromthat?HughHerr:Yougetthiscraziness.Whenyouput,like,atoydesignernexttoapersonthat'sthinkingaboutwhatinstrumentswilllooklikeinthefuturenexttosomeonelikeme,that'sinterfacingmachinestothenervoussystem,yougetreallyweirdtechnologies.Yougetthingsthatnoonecould'vehaveconceivedof."Wereallyselectforpeoplewhohaveapassion.Wedon'thavetotellthemtoworkhard.Wehavetotellthemtoworklesshardandtogetsleep,occasionally."TheMediaLabwasconceivedina1984proposal.MIT'sNicholasNegropontewrote"computersaremedia"thatwillleadto"interactivesystems."Hepredictedtheriseofflatpaneldisplays,HDTVsandnews"wheneveryouwantit."Negropontebecameco-founderofthelabanditsdirectorfor20years.NicholasNegroponte:Whenweweredemonstratingthesethingsin,let'ssay,'85,'86,'87--itwasreallyconsiderednew.ScottPelley:Itlookedlikemagic.NicholasNegroponte:Indistinguishablefrommagic. In1979MITdeveloped"moviemap"whichpredatedGooglestreetviewbydecades. MIT'sMediaLab CBSNews Now,noticewhat'ssocommontodaythatyoudidn'tevennoticeit.He'stouchingthescreen.Ifyouhadseenthaton60Minutesinthe'80's,youwouldyouhavebeenamazed. Andyoumighthavebeendazzledbyoneoftheearliestflatscreens.NicholasNegroponte:Itwassixinchesbysixinches,blackandwhiteitwasa$500,000pieceofglass.ScottPelley:Itcostahalfamilliondollars?NicholasNegroponte:Itcosthalfamilliondollars.Isaid,"thatpieceofglasswillbesixfeetindiagonalwithmillionsofpixelsinfullcolor.In1997,thelabalsogavebirthtothegrandfatherofSiriandAlexa.Andin1989,itcreatedturn-by-turnnavigationthatitcalled'BackSeatDriver.' NicholasNegroponte:AndtheMITpatentlawyerslookedatitandsaid,"Thiswillneverhappen,neverbedone,becausetheinsurancecompanieswon'tallowitsowe'renotgonnapatentit."Lookthroughtheglasswalledlabstodayandyouwillwitness400projectsinthemaking.Thelabisdevelopingpacemakerbatteriesrechargedbythebeatingoftheheart,self-drivingtaxitricyclesthatyousummonwithyourphone,phonesthatdoretinaleyeexamsandteachingrobots.PattieMaes:Sowethinkthatthedevicesoftomorrowhaveanopportunitytodosomuchmoreandtofitbetterinourlives.ProfessorPattieMaesranthegraduateprogram'sstudentadmissionsformorethanadecade.PattieMaes:Wereallyselectforpeoplewhohaveapassion.Wedon'thavetotellthemtoworkhard.Wehavetotellthemtoworklesshardandtogetsleep,occasionally.ScottPelley:Howoftendoesastudentcometoyouwithanideaandyouthink,"We'renotgonnadothat?"PattieMaes:Actually,forus,thecrazierthebetter. AdamHaar-Horowitz'ideawassonuttyhewasoneof50newstudentsadmittedoutof1,300applications.AdamHaar-Horowitz:Iwasreallyinterestedinastateofsleepwhereyoustarttodreambeforeyou'refullyunconscious.Whereyoukeepcomingupwithideasrightasyou'reabouttogotosleep.Haar-Horowitz'systemplantsideasfordreamsThenrecordsconversationswiththedreamerduringthatsemi-consciousmomentbeforeyoufallasleep.Herorigamipyramiddreamwasinfluencedbytherobotsayingtheword"mountain."It'slongbeenbelievedthatthisisthemomentwhenthemindisitsmostcreative—Haar-Horowitzhopestocaptureideasthatweoftenlosebythenextmorning.AdamHaar-Horowitz:Soit'sbasicallylikeaconversation.Youcanask,"Hey,Jibo,I'dliketodreamaboutarabbittonight."Itwouldwatchforthattriggerofunconsciousness.Andthenrightasyou'rehittingthelip,ittriggersyouwiththeaudio.itasksyouwhatisitthatyou'rethinkingabout.Yourecordallthatsleeptalking.Andthenlater,whenyouwakeupfully,youcanaskforthoserecordings.ScottPelley:Andwhenhebroughtthisideatoyou,whatdidyouthink,really? PattieMaes:Crazyenough.  CorrespondentScottPelleywalkswithHughHerr CBSNews Nearby,inHughHerr'slab,EverettLawson'sbrainisconnectedtohisprostheticfoot—areplacementfortheclubfoothewasbornwith.EverettLawson:Theverydefinitionofaleg,oralimborankleisgonnadramaticallychangewithwhatthey'redoing.Itisn'tjustwhole,it's150%.HughHerr:Youfeeldirectlycorrected?EverettLawson:Yeah,whenIfireamusclereallyfast,itmakesitsfullsweep.Herr'steamhaselectronicallyconnectedthecomputersintheroboticfootwiththemusclesandnervesinLawson'sleg.HughHerr:He'snotonlyabletocontrolviahisthoughts.Hecanactuallyfeelthedesignedsyntheticlimb.Hefeelsthejointsmovingasifthejointsaremadeofskinandbone. ForProfessorHerr,necessitywasthemotherofinvention.Helosthislegstofrostbiteatage17afterhewasstrandedbyawinterstormwhilemountainclimbing.HughHerr:Throughthatrecoveryprocess,mylimbsareamputated,Idesignmyownlimbs,IreturntomysportofmountainclimbingIwasclimbingbetterthanI'dachievedwithnormal,biologicallimbs.Thatexperiencewassoinspiring'causeIrealizedthepoweroftechnologytoheal,torehabilitate,andevenextendhumancapabilitybeyondnatural,physiologicallevels.ScottPelley:Youdevelopedthelegsthatyou'rewearingtoday?HughHerr:Eachleghasthreecomputers,actually,and12sensors.Andtheyrunthesecomputationsbasedonthesensoryinformationthat'scomingin.Andthenwhat'scontrolledisamotorsystem,likemuscle,thatdrivesmeasIwalk;enablemetowalkatdifferentspeeds.ScottPelley:Whatwillthismeanforpeoplewithdisabilities?HughHerr:Technologyisfreeing.Itremovestheshacklesofdisabilityfromhumans.AndthevisionoftheMediaLabisthatoneday,throughadvancesintechnologies,wewilleliminatealldisability. Wheretomorrow'stechnologyisborn 05:49 ThecurrentdirectoroftheMediaLabisJoiIto—afour-timecollegedropout—andoneofthosemisfitsthatthelabprefers.Aftersuccessinhightechventurecapital,hecameheretopresideoverthelab's30facultyanda$75millionannualbudget. ScottPelley:Howdoyoupayforallthis?JoiIto:Sowehave90companiesthatpayusamembershipfeetojointheconsortium.Andthenbecauseit'sallcomingintoonepot,Icandistributethefundstoourfacultyandstudents,andtheydon'thavetowritegrantproposals,don'thavetoaskforpermission.Theyjustmakethings.ScottPelley:Doanyofthesecompaniesleanonyoufromtimetotime,andsay,"Hey,weneedsomeproducthere."JoiIto:Theydo.I'vefiredcompaniesforthat.ScottPelley:Youfiredthem.JoiIto:yeah,I'vetoldcompanies,you'retoobottom-lineoriented.Maybewe'renotrightforyou.ThesponsorswhichincludeLego--thetoymaker,Toshiba,ExxonMobilandGeneralElectric,getfirstcrackatinventions.Thelabholds302patents—andcounting.  CalebHarper'sideaissobigitdoesn'tfitinthebuilding.SoMITdonatedthesiteofanabandonedparticleacceleratorforthistrainedarchitectwhoisnowbuildingfarms.Hecallsthese"foodcomputers"--farmswhereconditionsareperfect. JoiItoandNicholasNegropontespeakwithcorrespondentScottPelley CBSNews CalebHarper:They'reallcapableofcontrollingclimate.Sotheymakearecipe.ThismuchCO2,thismuchO2,thistemperature.Sowecreateaworldinabox.Mostpeopleunderstandifyousay,oh,thetomatoesinTuscanyonthenorthslopetastesogood,andyoucan'tget'emanywhereelse.That'sthosegeneticsunderthoseconditionsthatcausethatbeautifultomato,sowestudythatinsideoftheseboxeswithsensors,andtheabilitytocontrolclimate.ScottPelley:Tuscanyinabox.CalebHarper:Tuscanyinabox,Napainabox,Bordeauxinabox.ScottPelley:Nowtheseareplantsyou'regrowinginair.Thesebasilplantsgrow,notinsoil--butinair. CalebHarper:Theplantissuperhappy.ScottPelley:Nodirt.Airsaturatedwithacustommixofmoistureandnutrients.Thefoodcomputersgrowalmostanything,anywhere. ScottPelley:Whathaveyoulearnedaboutcottonfarming?CalebHarper:Socottonisactuallyaperennialplant,whichmeanitwouldgrow,youknow,thewholeyear-longbutit'streatedlikeanannual.Wehaveaseason.Sointhisenvironment,sinceit'sperfectforcotton,we'vehadplantsgo12months.ScottPelley:Sohowmanycropscanyougetinacontrolledenvironmentlikethisone?CalebHarper:Youcancropuptofourorfiveseasons.We'regrowing,onaverage,threetofourtimesfasterthantheycangrowinthefield. TheuncommongrowthoftheMediaLabflowsfromitsrefusaltobeboundtogoals,contracts,ornextquarter'sprofits.Itissimplyashipofexplorationgoingwhereveracrazyideamaylead.HughHerr:Wegettothinkaboutthefuture.Whatdoestheworldlooklike,10years,20years,30years?Whatshoulditlooklike?Youknow,thebestwaytopredictthefutureistoinventit.ResearchersattheMediaLabcontinuetomakeadvances.ArnavKapur'sheadsetthatallowedhimtosurftheinternetwithhismindisnowthesizeofaband-aid.HughHerrhashelpedmoreamputeesandCalebHarper'sfoodcomputersaregrowingdisease-fightingherbs.ThisreportoriginallyairedApril22,2018.ItwasproducedbyKatieKerbstat.Associateproducer,AlexDiamond. ScottPelley Correspondent,"60Minutes" ThanksforreadingCBSNEWS. Createyourfreeaccountorloginformorefeatures. Continue Pleaseenteremailaddresstocontinue Pleaseentervalidemailaddresstocontinue ViewCBSNewsIn CBSNewsApp Open Chrome Safari Continue Bethefirsttoknow Getbrowsernotificationsforbreakingnews,liveevents,andexclusivereporting. NotNow TurnOn