Now Available: Innovators Under 35 2013 See The 2013 List »

Cynthia Breazeal, 34
Constructs robots whose expressive faces convey humanlike emotions
MIT
People often ask Cynthia Breazeal, director of the MIT Media Laboratory’s robotic-life group, whether robots will take over the world. “I’m like, ‘Oh, go see a movie,’” she laughs. Nonetheless, there’s something Hollywood about Breazeal’s work. She builds expressive robots that exhibit socially appropriate emotional responses, attracting media attention as well as advancing artificial-intelligence research. For her doctoral thesis, Breazeal constructed Kismet, a bright-eyed mechanical head that reacts to human voices, movements, and expressions with smiles, frowns, and raised eyebrows. Her latest robot, Leonardo, a collaboration with the Stan Winston Studio, of movie special-effects fame, is a 75-centimeter-tall creature. The furry bot’s 60 small motors produce fluid movements and subtle facial expressions; it also has pressure-sensitive “skin”, microphones, a speech synthesizer, and camera “eyes” that track people’s faces and gestures. Unlike other robots, whose actions are driven by programmed routines, Leonardo learns tasks by assessing humans’ expressions and imitating their movements. Breazeal calls it “the most expressive robot today,” and because she believes “socially intelligent” robots could become actors, or helpers for the elderly, she is conducting studies of human-robot interaction. Her lab is also helping NASA build a “robonaut” space assistant that might one day perform maintenance tasks in space.
2003 TR35 Winners
Geoffrey Barrows
Gives unmanned reconnaissance planes insect vision
Serafim Batzoglou
Devises powerful tools for assembling and analyzing genomes
Cynthia Breazeal
Constructs robots whose expressive faces convey humanlike emotions
Ian Clarke
Pioneered software that delivers Web files quickly, anonymously
Andre DeHon
Designs architectures needed to build practical molecular computers
Daniel Gottesman
Works to improve quantum computers so they can speed drug design and perform other massive computing tasks
Kathryn Guarini
Fabricates three-dimensional integrated circuits that could vastly increase computer power
Vic Gundotra
Sparked Microsofts change to .Net
Andrew Heafitz
Invented inexpensive rocket-based surveillance systems
Steven Hofmeyr
Devised software that roots out security threats to a networks operating system
Mike Horton
Engineers tiny sensors that can be spread like crumbs around a battlefield or factory
Ayanna Howard
Writes programs that more intelligently guide actions of robots
Kevin Lee
Integrates photonics and electronics on chips to speed telecommunications
Desmond Lim
Develops high-volume manufacturing lines for making optical chips into commodities
Michael OConnor
Designed an automated tractor steering system that is saving farmers bushels of money
Joe Pompei
Delivers "spotlights" of sound for use in concerts, museums, and automobiles
Jovan Popovic
Makes simpler, more powerful animation tools for novices and professionals
Thomas Reardon
Tailors Internet application to cell phones
Torsten Reil
Employs simulations of human movement to create realistically animated characters
Heike Riel
Built large, bright, organic video displays using materials dismissed by contemporaries
Maximilian Riesenhuber
Programs computers to recognize objects the way the human brain does
Linda Rottenberg
Helps entrepreneurs in emerging nations turn innovations into business
Ted Sargent
Fashions photonic circuits that could speed voice and data to homes
Tim Sibley
Serves up customized audio and video gems
Alex Vasilescu
Transforms computers ability to recognize human faaces
Lorraine Wheeler
Codes software that makes handheld computers handier
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto
Builds brain-imaging machines that are faster and cheaper than magnetic-resonance imaging equipment