MediaMente: Rosalind Picard

Rosalind Picard

Interview

"Affective computing: a future of sensitive computers" (Montecarlo - IMAGINA, 05/03/98)

Biography

Born in Boston, Rosalind Picard studied Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, following her studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.

After a period working for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Scientific Atlanta, and the AT&T Bell Labs, Rosalind Picard (http://picard.www.media.mit.edu/people/picard/ ) began her research and teaching activity at the MIT in 1987.

Since 1995 she has been Associate Professor of the Media Lab and the NEC development professor of computers and communications at the MIT Media Lab.

She is particularly interested in affective computing, Texture and Pattern modelling and Video and Image Libraries: Browsing, Retrieval, Annotation.

She wrote the chapter "Does HAL Cry Digital Tears?", in "Hal's Legacy" edited by David Stork, 1996, MIT Press (http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/Hal ). Aimed at the general public, the book contains essays by some of the most important experts in the research areas inspired by HAL, the computer of Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey". It explores the relationship between science fiction and technological reality, and describes how HAL has influenced scientific research.

In Affective Computing, 1997, MIT Press, Picard presented an interesting image of how computers should become: not cold machines, but provided with emotions, like men and animals. Emotions are a natural and significant part of human relations, and play a fundamental role in the development of intelligence, and human - computer interaction.