Ari Y. Benbasat, Ph.D.

Visiting Scientist
Responsive Environments Group
MIT Media Lab

 

I recently received my doctorate from the MIT Media Lab and am now continuing my research here as a visiting scientist.  I worked in the Responsive Environments Group, directed by Prof. Joseph Paradiso, which does research into novel sensing technologies (either smaller, cheaper or denser than available systems).  My current research centres on the design and implementation of low-power sensor system, power savings being achieved through high-level algorithmic means rather than low-level technical ones. I am particularly interested in wearable medical applications of such system. Other research interests include modular sensor system design and the use of inertial measurement for human-computer interaction.

Projects:

• Groggy Wakeup
  • An automated framework for generating a population of classifiers for power-efficient detection in wearable sensors.
  • This work was the basis of my Ph.D. dissertation.
• The Stack
  • A modular platform for rapid prototyping and testing of high density wireless sensing applications
  • Used as part of the Gait Shoe wearable gait laboratory, the FlexiGesture musical controller and the Huggable robotic companion animal, amongst others
• Minimal Magnetic Tracking
  • A simple low-cost three-dimensional magnetic tracker used inside a PDA as part of the Atmosphere installation at MOMA.
• 3X Inertial Measurement Unit
  • A low-cost, compact, six degree-of-freedom inertial measurement unit for gesture recognition
  • This work was the basis of my Master's thesis (summarized in a talk (PPT) at the Institute of Navigation)
• (void*): A Cast of Characters
  • An interactive exhibit shown at SIGGRAPH '99, used my IMU in the interface.
• Squirt
  • A small, low-power pulsing IR beacon.  Used in the Vision & Modelling Group from 1999-2002.
• Expressive Footwear
  • Instrumented shoes that allow a dancer to create music as they move.  Most recently shown at ISEA '00 in Paris.
• Distributed Aperature Audio Transducers
  • Using clever transducer shapes, rather than complicated processing, to do audio direction finding.

 

Others:

• iRX Board
  • A General-purpose prototyping board with a PIC microcontroller, serial I/O, and infrared input and output links.
  • With the graduation of Rob Poor, I have become the new keeper of the iRX flame.

 

Publications

 

Academic Courses:

• Spring 2004
  • 6.341 Discrete-Time Signal Processing
• Spring 2003
  • MAS.965 Electronic Skins and Dense Sensor Networks
• Fall 2001
  • 6.825 Techniques in Artificial Intelligence
  • MAS.834 Tangible Interfaces
• Spring 2001
  • 6.432 Detection, Estimation and Stochastic Processes
• Fall 1999
  • 6.852 Distributed Algorithms
• Spring 1999
  • 6.637 Optical Information Processing (OpenCourseWare site) (Paper on Optical Security Schemes)
  • MAS.864 Nature of Mathematical Modelling
• Fall 1998
  • 2.160 Information, Computation and Control (OpenCourseWare site)
  • 13.741 Sonar, Radar, and Seismic Signal Processing (Current site)

 

Contact:

Ari Y. Benbasat
Phone:  617-452-5610
Fax:    617-253-6285
E-mail: ayb@media.mit.edu

Postal Address:
MIT Media Lab
20 Ames St.
Room E15-320H
Cambridge, MA 02139