Do Salarymen Dream of MIT? (MIRAI Hackathon: Part 1)

Hello everyone. This is about an event I attended a little while back in September at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab. I went there to participate in an event called the "MIRAI Hackathon." It was a wonderfully fun initiative where corporate members (sponsors) of the MIT Media Lab interacted with MIT students, graduate students, and faculty to create something together over three days. This fantastic project was realized under the leadership of MIT researchers and students. Actually, our company is also a member of the MIT Media Lab, which is how this opportunity came about.

Inside the MIT Media Lab, there were all sorts of fun-looking devices everywhere. I want to drop everything and go back to properly studying.

 

But! I innocently raised my hand saying, "This looks fun, I really want to go!" for that event. But once it was decided and I looked at the program, two tasks were assigned to Sasaki... "Lecture for Professors, Graduate Students, and Undergraduates" and "Hackathon Group Leader"... Whoa, hold up. The others giving talks or leading groups were Tosa Nobumichi, President of Maywa Denki; Professor Junichi Koyama from the University of Tokyo; and Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi from Rhizomatiks. And then there's Sasaki. Um, sorry, but I'm the only regular salaryman mixed in here...

Looking back, during my student days studying information science, MIT was a place I deeply admired. Late at night in the lab, devouring papers and nibbling on brain bread bought at the student co-op, I'd feel nothing but growing anxiety—wondering what I needed to do to get into such a cutting-edge overseas research institute. I dreamed of studying at MIT someday. But I never took any action and ended up becoming a salaryman. For someone like me, this event feels like an unavoidable encounter with my past self. No, sorry, that's probably overstating it. But could the current me really give a lecture to everyone at MIT? Could a talk about advertising—this expression steeped in the mundane world—possibly hold academic value or truth? I did wonder about that.

But while creating the presentation slides, I became certain of one thing: even though our projects might seem silly as expressions, the work we're doing now is undoubtedly creating the future of communication. Being chased by deadlines and miscellaneous tasks, we haven't fully systematized what we're doing—which is frustrating for someone with a science background. But this job is about constantly making new attempts toward some ideal communication world, getting our expressions seen by an enormous number of people, and finding discoveries there. Right? Everyone.

My actual presentation at MIT had me sweating buckets, and I'm not sure how well it went. But I hope I managed to convey even a little of the excitement of our work to the young researchers and students there. And after hearing the amazing talks from other members, and listening to the professors and researchers, I decided I need to properly re-examine my own work from an academic perspective. To continue the dream I saw 20 years ago.

Well, I've rambled on, but the real reason I aimed for MIT this time—besides reconnecting with myself—was to eat delicious ramen and lobster supposedly found in Boston, where MIT is located. That part, though, is a secret from my boss. And since I've been rambling about this middle-aged salaryman's dreams, I haven't written a single word about the incredibly fun hackathon! That'll have to be continued next time!

Reference image for the lobster. I swear it's not the one I actually ate. It's just for illustration, I tell you.