The MindGames Group, MediaLabEurope

About the MindGames Group

The MindGames group at MIT MediaLabEurope was an interdisciplinary team focussed on developing constructive technologies that would expand and improve human potential by bringing skills from the virtual world into the real world.

From 2002-2004, I was a Research Associate with MindGames. I was the architect and lead developer of Symphony, a software framework for signal processing and visualization.

Symphony

Symphony provided the foundation for over 10 projects built by groups at MIT MediaLabEurope and the MIT Media Lab. A Symphony-based project was delivered to a team at NASA, and another was presented at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society.

My Role: Architect and Lead Developer
Partners: MediaLabEurope; MIT Media Lab
Technologies: .NET 1.x, Managed DirectX (ultimately XNA)

For More Information: Symphony Architecture (updated page, links to Microsoft Global Case Study)

Here are two cool applications developed with Symphony:

Mind Balance

A brain-computer interface built with Symphony that reliably uses a person’s electroencephalogram (EEG) as a control mechanism.

Role: Research Associate, Lead Developer
Partners: MediaLabEurope, University College Dublin
Mind Balance screenshot

Still Life

An interactive performance art piece that was applied to therapeutic and remedial healthcare.

Role: Research Associate, Lead Developer
Partners: MediaLabEurope, Central Remedial Clinic
Still Life in performance

More about MindGames & MediaLabEurope

Media Lab Europe was founded in July 2000 as a collaborative venture between the Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Modeled on the Media Laboratory at MIT, Media Lab Europe was established as a hybrid between academia and the corporate world to create a unique new centre of excellence in digital technologies.

The MindGames group at MediaLabEurope, led by Dr Gary McDarby, was an interdisciplinary team focussed on developing constructive technologies that would expand and improve human potential by bringing skills from the virtual world into the real world.

I developed Symphony while working as a Research Associate in the MindGames Group. During its development, the group partnered with scientists and medical researchers at Dublin’s Mater Hospital and Central Remedial Clinic, and interactive design artists from London’s SmartLab.

The work was presented internationally, including at the United Nations World Summit on Information Society (Geneva, December 2003), and Microsoft Research (Cambridge, UK, 2004).

For More Information: Symphony Architecture, Still Life, Mind Balance, my old MediaLabEurope Page