Why the Media Lab works—A personal view

The MIT Media Laboratory distinctively combines a high degree of vitality, creativity, and accessibility. The vitality is evident to students and visitors, especially in the late hours of the night. The creativity is evident as changes and innovations produce very different “products” from year to year, invariably surprising sponsors and other visitors who have been away from the Media Lab for six to twelve months. Finally, these products are unusually accessible to a general audience, and demonstrations of these products are generally exciting and inspirational to scientific and nonscientific audiences alike. This combination of vitality, creativity, and accessibility is part of the reason for the striking growth and public visibility of the lab over the past five years. It is also why many individuals and organizations around the world seem to be very interested in duplicating the model of the Media Lab. However, such duplications require an understanding of what factors have led to this successful combination in the first place. This essay looks at some of the factors that led to the success of the Media Lab, based on my own thoughts and efforts in trying to transplant that success to different contexts.