Future Banking Blog

The Media Lab is at the forefront of hybrid methods in research, but what we see is a bit strange since it appears on the surface to be similar to product development. The researchers prefer to build first, and ask questions later.  This is deceptive, since it may produce artifacts that appear to be useful. The [...]

During Media Lab Sponsor Week, we saw the presentation by Adam Boulanger regarding early Alzheimer’s detection through music. Adam noted that early uses of this were with people with other types of cognitive disabilities.
My brother David is severely disabled (both mentally and physically). Through the years there have been several groups with “facilitated communications” solutions [...]

Blogs can have a greater impact on purchase decisions than social networks, a new study from the Jupiter Research arm of Forrester finds. Blogs create a community, and become a trusted resource with the ability to influence purchase decisions.
Blog readership is on the rise. Jupiter Research noted a 300 percent growth in monthly readership in [...]

I believe that most, if not all, innovations occur as the result of an individual or team’s passion to solve a problem and improve how we live. Innovation matters because it advances our health, wealth and happiness. (This trio of fundamentals comes from Frank Moss’s vision for MIT’s Media Lab) 
Over the long run, innovation is [...]

Convenience seems to be the priority in this digital age. We consider ourselves savvy about our privacy, but do we recognize the boundaries?  We are quick to sign up for the “shoppers club” at the local supermarket. Most of us do not read the fine print on the terms and conditions; we are anxious for [...]

One popular view is that the financiers involved in the economic crisis were evil human beings. Not only is this view incorrect; I worry that adapting it will not lead us to actually fixing the real problems in the market. 
Here, it’s helpful to describe a set of experiments we have done with some MIT and [...]

One lesson to emerge from the current financial crisis is the importance of setting, and adhering to, financial goals. Financial institutions continue to develop better tools to help consumers gain financial literacy. As they do, here are a few things I think they should keep in mind.
 The health care industry has shown that some simple [...]