New Research Updates

Over the past year, mediaX members helped to fund two research themes at Stanford University. Below, is a first look at the projects from both the “Smart Office Workflows” and “Potential, Performance and Productivity” themes.

Each of these were put together with great insights from the mediaX member Community in conjunction with the faculty here at Stanford who are in charge of each project.

Smart Office Workflows
Smart Office Workflows Research
Personal, team and organizational work styles and workflows have changed as a result of information technology (IT) in sensor-rich computational environments. This theme highlights insights about productivity in the technology-enabled offices of the future. It focuses on workflow, communication and production in knowledge work and learning environments that are augmented with sensing technologies, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

mediaX provided seed grants to four projects that have strong potential to create insights about productivity in the technology-enabled offices of the future. This challenge included, but was not limited to: sensors for stationary and motion technology, personal and team sensing, sharing and security, real-time progress feedback, and work-related tools and technologies for novel as well as routine work of individuals, teams and organizations. Priority was given to proposals that included research methods or questions about documenting and enhancing workflow in educational, legal, government and health sectors across both remote and on-site work spaces.

Research Initiatives

Michael Bernstein: Dream Team: Computational Techniques for Adaptive Teams

Larry Leifer: Real Time Knowledge Capture and Feedback in Design Workspaces

Larry Leifer: Making Noise Intentional: Capturing and Designing Robotic Sonic Expression

Allison Okamura: Haptic Tether for Human Robot Communication

Potential, Performance and Productivity
Potential, Performance and Productivity Research
Technical advances in neuroscience, human and computer intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and predictive algorithms are transforming many aspects of the employee experience. This research theme supports research that can lead to workforce insights about information technologies and human sciences for potential, performance and productivity of knowledge workers.

This research theme supports research that can lead to workforce insights about information technologies and human sciences for potential, performance and productivity of knowledge workers. The five projects below explore compelling opportunities that empower leadership, learning, professional development, performance, productivity, and agile team construction and management.

Research Initiatives

Michael Bernstein & Margaret Levi: Vitae: Digital Hiring Halls for On Demand Workers

Geoffrey Cohen: Harnessing the Psychological Power of Virtual Reality to Enhance Leadership in High Diversity Teams in STEM

Pamela Hinds: Where are the Breakdowns? Surveying Unsuccessful and Failed Uses of Data

Ingmar Riedel-Kruse & Michael Bernstein: Coordinating Expert Flash Teams on the Biological Internet of Things

Melissa Valentine & Stephen Barley: New Training Models for the Digital Workforce: The Case of Coding Bootcamps