Imagine a world where you could change the designs you see on bags, shirts, and walls whenever you want. Typical clothes would become customizable fashion pieces, while your humble abode could turn into a smart home. That’s the vision of scientists like MIT electrical engineering and computer science PhD student Yunyi Zhu ’20, MEng ’21: … Read more
Have you ever had an idea for something that looked cool, but wouldn’t work well in practice? When it comes to designing things like decor and personal accessories, generative artificial intelligence (genAI) models can relate. They can produce creative and elaborate 3D designs, but when you try to fabricate such blueprints into real-world objects, they … Read more
Generative artificial intelligence models have left such an indelible impact on digital content creation that it’s getting harder to recall what the internet was like before it. You can call on these AI tools for clever projects such as videos and photos — but their flair for the creative hasn’t quite crossed over into the … Read more
The ocean is teeming with life. But unless you get up close, much of the marine world can easily remain unseen. That’s because water itself can act as an effective cloak: Light that shines through the ocean can bend, scatter, and quickly fade as it travels through the dense medium of water and reflects off … Read more
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Zhejiang University, and Tsinghua University have developed a new approach for 3D printing objects capable of humanlike movement. Called “Xstrings,” the method automates the fabrication of cable-driven assemblies that can bend, coil, screw, and compress. Such devices are traditionally difficult to produce because the cable … Read more