Wearable computers, networked shoes, functional LEGO® pieces, and human-powered generators are a taste of the things that scientists think about at the MIT Media Lab. Founded in 1985, the lab has begun exporting its style of inventing. In 2000 it helped set up Media Lab Europe in Dublin, Ireland. Now it’s partnering with the government of India to start a media lab there. And there’s talk of additional offshoots in Korea, South America, and Australia. At home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the original media lab is growing too, with plans to double in size in the next few years.

For a university research lab, the MIT Media Lab is unusually glitzy. A building designed by internationally known architect I. M. Pei houses more than 30 research groups, blending science—including physics, math, computer science, engineering, biology, chemistry, and anthropology—with publishing, art, music, epistemology, and other fields. Just as unusual as the multidisciplinary...

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