The Seamless Coupling of Bits and Atoms

Abstract

Hiroshi Ishii conducts research in the MIT Media Lab in two principal areas: the field of Human-Computer Interactions, and the field of interface design linking human beings, digital information and the environment. In this dialogue, Hiroshi describes two of the basic concepts of the Media Lab: the first is to achieve ‘tangible bits’ in human-computer interaction, and the second concerns ‘affordance’, which refers to the possibility of an action on an object or environment, in particular, those of which we are aware. He also explains how they create ‘digitally augmented objects’ to improve our understanding and knowledge of objects and their immediate environment. Hiroshi later reflects on the difficulties of developing natural language interfaces, and whether ‘things can think’—he is co-director of Things That Think. He also discusses breakthroughs with his ‘radical atoms’ vision of developing materials that have a shape and appearance which can be digitally transformed to make them as reconfigurable as pixels on a screen. Finally, he outlines some of his projects, such as eg. one related to the use of kinetic memory, the ability to ‘record and playback physical motion’.