Dear Friends:
For the last couple of days, I've been enjoying fantastic fall weather in Boston, Massachusetts. As you may know, my family lived her almost seven years ago...and the fall is a very special time in New England. The colors of the leaves start to change to brilliant yellow, red and green tones. It's the season for picking apples and pumpkins, and enjoying a little "chill" in the air at night. I love ALL of these things.
I came out to Boston to speak at an event at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). I love to deliver guest lectures at campuses, and this was a real treat. The event was organized by the MIT Media Lab - recognized around the world for leading research into computing, multimedia and the latest in human-computing interaction. This particular event was focused on virtual reality, or VR. It's something that I've been involved with for a little while. I felt quite lucky to be asked to talk to this audience.
After settling in, I decided to explore the campus a little. I came across some beautiful buildings, and public art. This sculpture really caught my eye. It's called Alchemist and consists of mathematical symbols in the shape of a human form. It was commissioned specifically for the 150th anniversary of MIT:
I also came across one of the more unusual buildings on campus. It's called the Stata Center - a huge academic complex:
The Stat houses the computer science and artificial intelligence departments. The building seriously looks like it’s going to fall over, with random angles and curves everywhere. Even the materials used fluctuate across the building. Obvious, in contrast to more traditional-looking buildings, it’s controversial ; )
I came upon the Kresge Auditorium - a giant meeting hall. The domed roof is exactly one-eighth of a sphere...of course...
I also wanted to take a picture of the most iconic building on campus. This is the one I've seen dozens of times while driving here in Cambridge. It's known as Building 10:
The front of the building is a colonnade facade of 10 huge ionic columns. However, it's the Great Dome on top that you see in most pictures of MIT. The Great Dome is modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. There's a small library at the top, that actually fills the space.
The best view, however, was 180-degrees from this building. MIT sits right on the Charles River. Across the river is downtown Boston. The view from this side was just breath-taking:
The Prudential Building...
The scene was filled with sail boats and crew - rowers in boats called shells, racing down the river. What an absolutely gorgeous day. It made my stroll through campus a real treat.
That night, since I was by myself, I wanted to try something totally different. I walked to Harvard Square and stepped into Clover Food Lab. This started as a food truck, but has expanded to several brick-and-mortar locations. The menu is focused on local ingredients, simple recipes and creative vegetarian dishes. I had the chickpea fritter, and it was pretty good:
It was certainly colorful ; ) I'm not sure I would go out of my way to go back...but I would like to try the chickpea fritter in a sandwich form, next time I'm there.
The next day was the opening of the event. MIT dubbed it "Reality...virtually" :
My lecture was about VR, specifically "mobile VR" - which is experiencing virtual reality without any wires, or tethers to a big PC. It involves mobile phones, as the workhorse for the experience...which is why I'm talking about it.
This is the video that MIT posted to their Twitter feed, during the early part of the event:
After a full day of conference, I decided to drive outside of Boston, to visit the area that we used to live in. The traffic was horrible, but I finally made it. For a journey that normally takes 50 minutes, it took me almost 3 hours!
I found a snack along the way....something I hadn't planned on. I always seem to find the experimental flavors...and this wasn't that crazy. Just a great idea:
I finally made it to Shrewsbury, where we lived for several years. We still have a special place in our hearts for this part of the country...and the friends we left behind. I decided to take a quick drive over to our old house...just to see how it was doing. Along the way, I noticed that the leaves were really starting to turn into the beautiful fall colors that New England is famous for. It was really late in the day, so the lighting isn't great:
I was happy to see that the new owners have kept the house in great shape. We really loved our time there and have some fantastic memories of that house:
I met up with some of our dearest friends and went to a restaurant that was opened by other friends.
The restaurant is called "Basil and Spice" and features a fusion of Thai and other cuisines. The food was fantastic. The highlight, however, was the dessert. Our friend makes a mango sticky rice...that is to die for. As my wife remembers, our friend used to make this for visiting teachers (a network of women in our congregation that watch over each other), in just minutes. It was outstanding:
For good measure, our friend also whipped up a chocolate pumpkin custard. It had the texture of flan, and was also delicious:
I drove back to Cambridge, and prepared for the next day at the MIT VR event. I delivered my lecture a second time - for a slightly different audience, and in a different location. This picture was taken right as I started, and more people filled-in the seats as time went on:
For the rest of the weekend, MIT invited all of their students to participate in a "hackathon". Essentially, the students formed groups of 5-6 people and stayed up through the night to "hack" a VR program together. They used VR devices that were donated and some came up with some great ideas. The energy of these teams was fun to watch:
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