What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
An illuminated close-up of an eye projected onto the MIT Dome, merging human gaze with celestial wonder, symbolizing resilience and shared aspirations. Photo of dome by Tianyi Han
What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
An illuminated close-up of an eye projected onto the MIT Dome, merging human gaze with celestial wonder, symbolizing resilience and shared aspirations. Photo of dome by Tianyi Han
What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
An illuminated close-up of an eye projected onto the MIT Dome, merging human gaze with celestial wonder, symbolizing resilience and shared aspirations. Photo of dome by Tianyi Han
What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
An illuminated close-up of an eye projected onto the MIT Dome, merging human gaze with celestial wonder, symbolizing resilience and shared aspirations. Photo of dome by Tianyi Han
What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
What if the MIT dome could look back at us, sharing dreams and revealing stories of struggle and triumph within?
Per ardua ad astra—"Through difficulties to the stars"—captures this project's vision: transforming the dome into a living canvas that reflects the resilience and aspirations of those who have shaped, and been shaped by, the MIT experience.
The dome "looks back" at us through animated close-up visuals of participants' eyes gazing at stars, symbolizing shared human aspirations and dreams. Accompanied by coded visualizations of personal stories, the installation challenges traditional notions of success by emphasizing resilience, vulnerability, and the unspoken narratives of failure and triumph that shape human experience.
Stories are gathered through immersive pods across campus, where participants share personal journeys of ambition, setbacks, and transformation. These accounts are encoded into the projection and accessible through an optional augmented reality (AR) app, allowing viewers to uncover hidden messages.
MIT's hacking culture, referenced by President Barack Obama in his 2009 campus speech, remains an iconic tradition. This project honors that spirit through coded messages reflecting dreams and resilience.
In 2016, MIT's multimedia dome projection celebrated the Institute's history and future vision, drawing the largest campus gathering since 1916.
In the installation Blindness, Behnaz Farahi examined the impact of non-lethal weapons used by military forces during protests, specifically rubber bullets and metal pellets that caused permanent vision loss. Through 360-degree projections featuring the eyes of fifty participants, Farahi advocated for nonviolent political expression while highlighting the need for accountability and justice.
Behnaz Farahi is an award-winning designer and critical maker working at the intersection of fashion, architecture, and interactive design. As assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab, she leads the Critical Matter research group. Trained as an architect, Farahi explores empathetic relationships between the human body and its environment, drawing on emerging technologies and morphological and behavioral principles inspired by natural systems. Her projects address feminism, emotion, bodily perception, and social interaction through computational design, interactive technologies, and digital fabrication.
Farahi has received the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum Digital Design Award, Innovation by Design Fast Company Award, and World Technology Award. She co-edited Interactive Design: Towards a Responsive Environment (Birkhäuser Verlag, 2023) and 3D Printed Body Architecture (Wiley, 2017).
Her work, part of the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago's permanent collection, has been exhibited internationally at Ars Electronica Linz, Context Art Miami, SIGGRAPH, La Piscine Museum, and the A+D Architecture and Design Museum Los Angeles. Her projects have been featured in WIRED, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Frame Magazine, and other major media outlets.
The Media Lab is an interdisciplinary creative playground rooted squarely in academic rigor, comprising dozens of research groups, initiatives, and centers working collaboratively on hundreds of projects. We focus not only on creating and commercializing transformational future technologies but also on their potential to impact society for good.
MIT MAD is an interdisciplinary hub that celebrates the transformative power of design at MIT and beyond. MAD exists to foster innovation, empower individuals, and reshape the way we learn.
Building 10
10
222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA
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Critical Matter Group at MIT Media Lab
