Remarks on MIC Lab Journal Article
Stephen A. Benton
Academic Head Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Director Center for Advanced Visual Studies MIT
It is a pleasure to congratulate ATR Media Integration & Communications Research
Laboratories (ATR-MIC) on their illustrious history. Although I visited ATR only
after the founding of the MIC laboratories, I already knew of the fascinating
work being done there through conversations with my colleagues at the Media Lab
at MIT. Even then, ATR was recognized as one of the bright lights in the global
network of art-, science-, and technology-based research centers, completing a
circuit linking North America, Europe and the Far East. Subsequent visits filled
in the picture with more and more detail, and I was especially pleased to see
that artists were being so welcomed at ATR and were contributing to the remarkably
creative atmosphere there. As Director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies
(a laboratory for visiting artists at MIT), I was already familiar with the work
of many of these artists. I was impressed to see what a good connection they were
making with the research environment at ATR and how they were contributing to
a unique approach to technological progress.
The Media Lab was founded on a belief in the powerful synergies among art, science
and technology, but, following our own early and brief experience, we were doubtful
that such a mixture could be fruitful within the Japanese cultural and industrial
framework. To our surprise and delight, the MIC lab refuted our belief, and after
closer study I can say that we could not have anticipated the fortunate combination
of leadership, teamwork and technological environment that has made this possible.
The precise chemistry of art-, science-, and technology-based research remains
a mystery, but it is a pleasure to see the many positive results that have come
from the MIC labs. These have contributed not only to technical progress per se,
but also to new thinking about the promises of technical progress for the emotional
lives of humankind.
