The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Exoskeletons
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Markets
    • Agriculture
    • Healthcare
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Mining
    • Security
  • Financial
    • Investments
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Earnings
  • Resources
    • Careers
    • COVID-19
    • Digital Issues
    • Publications
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
      • Robotics Business Review
    • RBR50 Winners 2022
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
    • Leave a voicemail

Cynthia Breazeal named dean of digital learning at MIT

By Brianna Wessling | January 27, 2022

Listen to this article
Voiced by Amazon Polly
cynthia breazeal

Cynthia Breazeal and Jibo, a robotic personal assistant. | Source: Wikimedia Commons

Cynthia Breazeal, the co-founder and former CEO of Jibo, a now closed consumer robotics company, has been named dean for digital learning at MIT. Breazeal will begin the position on February 1.

Breazel is a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT and has served as the senior associate dean for open learning since the fall. She is the director of MIT RAISE, a research effort focused on advancing AI education for K-12 and adult learners, and the founder and head of the Personal Robots research group at the MIT Media Lab.

“Cynthia brings to the deanship a remarkable combination of experience and expertise. She consistently displays an outstanding facility for leadership and collaboration, bringing together people, ideas, and technologies in creative and fruitful ways,” vice president for Open Learning Sanjay Sarma wrote in his letter to the community. “Cynthia is an ambassador for women in STEM and a trailblazer in interdisciplinary research and community engagement.”

In 2012, Breazeal founded Jibo, a social robotics company named after its flagship product. Jibo could see with two hi-res cameras, this allowed it to recognize and track faces, take pictures and enable video calling.

Despite raising nearly $72 million in venture capital and raising more than $3.5 million in a 2014 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the company shut down in 2018. The company faced a number of issues, including competition from Amazon, Google and other companies making similar products for lower price tags.

Jibo’s IP was acquired by NTT Disruption in 2020, but things have been pretty quiet publicly ever since.

As dean, Breazeal will oversee business units and research initiatives focused on developing technologies for learning, including MIT xPRO, Bootcamps, Horizon, the Center for Advance Virtuality, MIT Integrated Learning Initiative and RAISE.

“The work that Open Learning is doing to extend the best of MIT’s teaching, knowledge, and technology to the world is so thrilling to me,” Breazeal said. “I’m excited to work with these teams to grow and expand their respective programs and to develop new, more integrated, potentially thematic solutions for corporations and professionals.”

Breazeal will continue to lead the Personal Robots research group as dean.

About The Author

Brianna Wessling

Brianna Wessling is an Associate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, and is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas. She can be reached at [email protected]

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles Read More >

John Deere autonomous tractor
John Deere acquires camera-based perception company Light
Hyundai, SOSLAB jointly developing LiDAR for mobile robots
ROS 2 driver now available for UR cobot arms
Xact Robotics ACE system
FDA clearance expands indications for Xact Robotics’ ablation system

2021 Robotics Handbook

The Robot Report Listing Database

Latest Robotics News

Robot Report Podcast

Robotics Summit 2022 recap
See More >

Sponsored Content

  • Meet Trey, the autonomous trailer (un)loading forklift
  • Kinova Robotics launches Link 6, the first Canadian industrial collaborative robot
  • Torque sensors help make human/robot collaborations safer for workers
  • Roller screws unlock peak performance in robotic applications
  • Making the ROS development cycle manageable

RBR50 Innovation Awards

Leave us a voicemail

The Robot Report
  • Mobile Robot Guide
  • Collaborative Robotics Trends
  • Field Robotics Forum
  • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
  • RoboBusiness Event
  • Robotics Business Review
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About The Robot Report
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Exoskeletons
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Markets
    • Agriculture
    • Healthcare
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Mining
    • Security
  • Financial
    • Investments
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Earnings
  • Resources
    • Careers
    • COVID-19
    • Digital Issues
    • Publications
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
      • Robotics Business Review
    • RBR50 Winners 2022
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
    • Leave a voicemail