LINGUIST List 17.1529

Wed May 17 2006

Media: MIT 'big brother' Style Language Acquisition Test

Editor for this issue: Amy Renaud <renaudlinguistlist.org>

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Directory         1.    Dave Sayers, MIT 'big brother' Style Language Acquisition Test

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Message 1: MIT 'big brother' Style Language Acquisition Test
Date: 16-May-2006
From: Dave Sayers <dsayersessex.ac.uk>
Subject: MIT 'big brother' Style Language Acquisition Test


http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9167

From the article:

'A baby is to be monitored by a network of microphones and video cameras for 14 hours a day, 365 days a year, in an effort to unravel the seemingly miraculous process by which children acquire language.

Deb Roy at MIT's Media Lab, US, devised the unusual project and even volunteered his own family as its guinea pigs. Since his newborn son left hospital nine months ago, Roy's whole family has been monitored by 14 microphones and 11 one-megapixel 'fish-eye' video cameras, attached to the ceilings of each room in their house.

By capturing a continuous stream of data about his son's experiences, Roy hopes to better understand the early development of language.'

Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition