GelSight technology lets robots gauge objects’ hardness and manipulate small tools.

Device provides information from a 3-D camera, via vibrating motors and a Braille interface.

Machines that predict the future, robots that patch wounds and wireless emotion-detectors are just a few of the exciting projects that came out of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) this year. Here’s a sampling of 16 highlights from 2016 that span the many computer science disciplines that make up CSAIL.

System correlates recorded speech with images, could lead to fully automated speech recognition.

Developed at Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, “MoVR” system allows VR headsets to communicate without a cord.

“Information extraction” system helps turn plain text into data for statistical analysis.

Self-driving scooter demonstrated at MIT complements autonomous golf carts and city cars.

CSAIL’s new training technique would reveal the basis for machine-learning systems’ decisions.

MIT’s James Kirtley discusses the transition from gas to electric motors and the impact these motors have had on modern technologies.

Sarah Hensley is preparing an astronaut named Valkyrie for a mission to Mars. It is 6 feet tall, weighs 300 pounds, and is equipped with an extended chest cavity that makes it look distinctly female. Hensley spends much of her time this semester analyzing the movements of one of Valkyrie’s arms.

Robot from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab suggests where to move patients and who should do C-sections.