Areas of Focus


Creativity, Learning, Productivity

Machine Human Collaboration

Mind, Body, Society

Future Worlds


Projects

Critical work at the intersection of
humanity and technology,
some are in the hands of millions
some still unfolding


Ongoing

IDE      
Imagination Development Environment

MixHeard
Machined Mondegreens




Archive

Amazon Alexa Look
AI Device for Fashion Advice

Liquid
Inter-Screen Fluid Interfaces

EVCC
NA EV-Charging Consortium

MeMod
Modular Programming Toolkit for Everyday Objects

Aureal
Social-Audio AR Framework

Samay
Color-Changing Bacteria that Tells Time

Obake
2.5D Elastic Shape-Shifting Display

SuperShoes
Tickling Shoes for Urban Rediscovery

Super Central
Control Panel for Predictive Wanderings

icon
Wearable Telepresence Device

BeingThere
Embodied Learning across Distances

Cheers
Alcohol-Aware Strobing Ice Cubes that Respond to Music

RadicalKitchen
Projected AR for a Multi-Modal Kitchen

FlipIt
Age-Old Artifacts for Contemporary News Consumption

Aura
Digital Interactions with your Physical Aura

Nostalgia Room
What Was Your Life Like?

ThinkerToys
Converting E-Waste into Educational Fun Toys

Coucou
Bringing Digital Social Networks into the Real World

Lovotics
Organic Multi-Modal Pet Robot

Anuvada
Parallel Real-Time Translation into 56 Languages

tweet-a-fleur
Flower that Blooms or Droops if the World is Happy or Sad

Google Sets API
Unofficial API to Access Google Sets (RIP)

emoTweet
Machine-Generated Emotion-Paintings from Tweets

Lokshahi
Mobile Civic Tool for Rural Empowerment

SMS-CV
ICTD Service to Apply for Jobs over Text

Jellow
Emotional Communication Tool for Kids with CP

iFeel
Machine Ontology to Map Attributes to Emotions

Sensoscope
Optical Tools to Alter Perception Toward Reality

Automatic
Love Letter to Machines, Humans, Fabrication

inVisible
Fiber Optic Experiments with Invisibility

Musiq
Play an Instrument Without Knowing How to Play

M.O.D.
Synthetic Muscles On Demand

HairAPI
Programmable Hair Experiments

MediumX
Physical-Digital Tools for Geologists

Horizon
Hand Gesture Glove

Internet & Democracy
Mapping the Blogosphere to Visualize Public Opinion

D’Square
Systems for Design MOOC

KeedaFM
5 Mile Radius Analog Radio Station

GrassTouch
Pocket garden for anytime tranquility

LastOne
Paintings immortalizing forfeited desires (Lost)

SeedPuff
Plant seeds in cigarette filters



Bio


Dhairya Dand
there-ya dan

b. 1989, Nasik
American x Indian, living in NYC since 2016
via Singapore, Tokyo, Cambridge, Seattle

Dhairya Dand is an award winning multi-disciplinarian based in NYC. Previously running ODD Industries, HCI researcher at MIT, Amazon's moonshot C-Lab (Alexa devices), engineering at Google, scientific advisory board at the XPRIZE Foundation and an artist at the NEW Museum in NYC, Keio-NUS CUTE Center in Singapore and in Phnom Penh. Graduate of Sciences and Arts at MIT.

He was a finalist for the Smithsonian’s National Design Award, part of the Forbes ’30 under 30’ list twice, was named as the first WIRED UK Innovation fellow ‘innovators who will change our world’ and an INK Fellow, part of Globe’s ‘Top 25 Innovators’ list, ELLE’s ’20 Names To Know’ list, Vogue’s ‘Cool People’ list. His work has been exhibited at the Tokyo Design Week, CHI Paris, TEI Barcelona among others. He has also given several talks around the world. Loves cooking, cycling and history.



photo credits: Andrea Kristinsdóttir

 

CV


Select Awards


Smithsonian Finalist for the National Design Award, 2014
FRSA UK Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, 2023
WIRED UK Innovation Fellow, 2014
NEW Museum / NEW INC 1 year residency, 2017
Forbes Asia 30 under 30 : Manufacturing and Energy, 2016
Forbes 30 under 30 : Design, 2015
INK Fellow : Global and cross-disciplinary path-breakers, 2014
Future of Storytelling USA Fellow, 2015
Boston Globe Top 25 innovators, 2013
Most Contagious UK Ones to watch in Technology, 2013
ELLE 20 names to know, 2016
Vogue India Cool People, 2015
Bleeker US Fellow, 2017
Texas Instruments Chip Challenge 1st Prize, 2009
IBM TGMC Top 20, 2008

Select Talks


Harvard University
MIT
Forbes Summit
WIRED Conference
Amazon
Tencent
Parsons
CMU
NYU Tandon
Creativity Conference
FITC
TEDx Berlin, Hamburg, Klagenfurt
NTNU
MIT Museum
Tokyo Design Week
Singapore Arts House
INK Talks
Kyoorius
72andSunny
HOK
Smart Kitchen Summit
Second Home
etc

Currently


Experimenting
D& 

Advisor / Mentor
MIT Media Lab
Foster America
Theater Mitu

Teaching
Speculative Archi-scapes with filmmaker Anand Gandhi, CEPT, Spring 2025


Prior


Work
ODD Industries, Amazon, Google, University of Tokyo, Keio-NUS, IDC etc

Advisor
XPRIZE Foundation, Moonshot Pirates

Education
Massachusettes Institute of Technology 
Master of Science (S.M. MAS)
advisor Prof. Pattie Maes



Talks


I am occasionally asked to speak at companies, conferences, or private events.

Talks and panels on futurism and the spirit of invention - speaking from personal anecdotes. Talks can be remote, in person, underwater or in space.

Audiences have included C-suite leaders, future visionaries, tech industry professionals, engineers, designers, artists, creativity curious adults, STEAM students, kids and pets.
Select Videos  


TED, Berlin
When the Moon shoots back

TEDx, Klagenfurt
Where to find disruptive ideas

TEDx, Hamburg
Love, See, Do. Repeat.

WIRED, London
Learning and Education in a wearable age

INK Talks, Mumbai
Technology Takes the Wheel

Smart Kitchen Summit, Seattle
Augmented Food Experiences


Future Flash, Toronto
Media-Mediums


MIT Museum, Cambridge
Hacking the body
Past Talks

HarvardXR : PanelCambridge Harvard University, 2024

Keynote Virtual KIT, 2024

KeynoteSingapore Forbes Summit, 2023

Panel on Future Foster Care NYC MIT Media Lab x Foster America, 2023

Create Dangerously : Absurdist AI, Human Empathy and how to beat the machine (or be friends) Virtual Creativity Conference, 2023

Careers in STEM Virtual LTVC Library Teen Virtual Convention, 2023

Moonshots begin on EarthVienna Moonshot Pirates, 2023

Pro(to)topiaVirtual Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2023

Design Futures Portland University of Maine, 2023

Keynote Virtual MIT, 2022

Innovation for EveryoneNasik Swayam, 2021

MasterclassToronto FITC, 2019

Keynote
Nasik Society of Engineers, 2019

BacteriaWatch
NYC NEW INC, NEW Museum, 2018

Where to find disruptive ideas
Berlin TEDx, 2018
Masterclass
NYC HOK, 2018

KeynoteTrondheim Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2018

Everyday InventingNYC AIF, 2017

D=UKlagenfurt TEDx, 2016


Future? Beijing Tencent Annual Summit, 2015

The art of looking sideways Pittsburgh CMU School of Design, 2015

Art, Design and Fabrication Seattle John Boylan's Conversation Series, 2015

Love, See, Do. Repeat. Hamburg TEDx, 2015

Masterclass Los Angeles 72andSunny, 2015

Media-Mediums Toronto ICA+Contagious Future Flash, 2015

Letting go London Second Home, 2015

Learning and Education in a wearable ageLondon WIRED, 2014

So far..Mumbai INK Talks, 2014

Life is an omeletteGoa Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2014


Superhuman in makingMumbai INK Salon, 2014

Hacking the bodyCambridge MIT Museum, 2013

Facilitating urban rediscoveryBoston Architecture Expo, 2013

SuperShoes : facilitating urban rediscoveryTokyo Tokyo Design Week, 2013

Keynote Tokyo Benesse, 2013

Wearables and the art of getting lost
Cambridge MIT Media Lab, 2013

Made in China : Manufacturing in ShenzhenCambridge MIT Media Lab, 2012

ThinkerToysSingapore Singapore Arts House, 2011

Publications


MeMod: A Modular Programming Toolkit For Everyday Objects
Austin Lee, Dhairya Dand “MeMod: A Modular Hacking and Programming Toolkit For Everyday Objects” at TEI 2016

(Thesis) icon : a wearable tool to facilitate remote collaboration
Dhairya Dand “icon : a wearable tool to facilitate remote collaboration” graduate thesis published 2014 at MIT

Obake : shape-shifting elastic 2.5D display
Dhairya Dand, Rob Hemsley “Obake : shape-shifting elastic 2.5D display” at UIST 2013

Cheers : Alcohol aware strobing ice cubes
Dhairya Dand “Cheers : Alcohol aware strobing ice cubes” at CHI 2013

Radical Kitchen : an augmented tangible kitchen
Dhairya Dand, Christian Erwin, David Nunez, Laura Perovich, Rob Hemsley “Radical Kitchen : an augmented tangible kitchen” at CHI 2013

SuperShoes : Facilitating urban rediscovery
Dhairya Dand, Henry Holtzman “SuperShoes : Facilitating urban rediscovery” at TEI 2013

ThinkerToys : Creating interactive toys from eWaste
Dhairya Dand “ThinkerToys : Creating interactive toys from eWaste” at ICTD 2012

LinkU : Dynamic social networks in Fourth Places
Peter Pearson, Dhairya Dand, Adrian Cheok, Masa Inakage “LinkU : Dynamic social networks in Fourth Places” accepted at WiCom 2011

Handicap assistance device for appliance control using user-defined gestures
Dhairya Dand, Sisil Mehta “Handicap assistance device for appliance control using user-defined gestures” at ISMS 2010

Jellow – An emotional communication device for kids with cerebral palsy
Dhairya Dand, Ravi Poovaiah “Jellow – An emotional communication device for kids with cerebral palsy” at ICCP 2010

(Thesis) Jellow – An emotional communication device for kids with cerebral palsy
Dhairya Dand “Jellow – An emotional communication device for kids with cerebral palsy” undergraduate thesis published 2010


Teaching

Spring 2025 Speculative Archi-scapes
Co-teaching with filmmaker Anand Gandhi, CEPT

Fall 2016 DataVis 
Guest Lecturer, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Fall 2015 Interaction Design X Spaces 
Guest Lecturer, CMU School of Design

Spring 2015 Experience Design 
Visiting Lecturer, AIS

Summer 2014 Interaction Futures : how may we interact with people, objects and spaces through our computers
Instructor, MIT

Fall 2014 Interaction Design 
Visiting Lecturer, AIS

Summer 2013 Hacking "Culture" / reimagining culture for the 21st century
Instructor, MIT

Fall 2010 New modes of Interaction
IDC

Fall 2010 Prototyping Techniques
ExpoiD, IDC

Workshops

Ideation, Advisory, Workshops for companies including

Samsung
LG
Amazon
Foster America
Toyota
New Balance
Deutsche Telecom
Benesse 
etc


Exhibitions


Bacteria Timepiece
New York NEW INC / NEW Museum, 2018
SuperShoes
London V&A, 2017

Peace Clock
New York SpaceGabi, 2015 

icon - a wearable tool to facilitate remote collaborationCambridge MIT Media Lab, 2014 

Obake – shape-shifting 2.5D elastic displaySt. Andrews UIST, 2013

Human Augmentation – programmable hair, on-demand musclesCambridge Mirai, 2013 

The Nostalgia Room – What was your life like?Cambridge The other other festival, 2013

Cheers – Alcohol aware strobing ice cubes
Radical Kitchen – An augmented tangible kitchen
Paris CHI, 2013

SuperShoes – Facilitating urban rediscoveryBarcelona TEI, 2013

ThinkerToys – Converting eWaste into educational fun toys
Atlanta ICTD, 2012

Coucou – physical social networks for kidsSingapore Singapore Arts House, 2012

Horizon – Hand gesture device
Kanpur Indian Institute of Technology, 2009

GestureWheelChairMumbai Innovative Technologies in Manufacturing Expo, 2009
Features


Forbes
Dhairya Dand: Blending imagination and reality
DNA News
Dhairya Dand
Contagious Magazine (Issue 31)
Dhairya Dand
Forbes Asia 
30 Under 30 list 2016
Forbes India 
30 Under 30 list 2015
TH
Disruption through a different lens
Most Contagious
Ones to watch - Technology (page 48)
Boston Globe 2013
Top 25 innovators under 25
Centre for MIT Entrepreneurship  
Four MIT students and alumni named to Globe’s "The Hive 25 Under 25" list
The Tribune
Gizmo Man of MIT
Economic Times
Dhairya Dand
Mint
The Digital and the Personal
Vogue - October 2015 Issue
Cool People
Brand Equity
In conversation with next-gen thinkers
NDTV
DesignYatra
ThinkBank
अपयशांचा अभ्यास न केल्याने आपण मागे पडतो?
Sadhana
ऑडमॅनचा नाशिक ते न्यू यॉर्क चा प्रवास


Articles on Projects


Fast Company
MIT's tickling shoes tell you where to walk
V&A
Shoes : Pleasure and Pain
Popular Science
Toe-Tickling Shoes Let You Navigate The City By Touch
The Atlantic Cities
The High-Tech Shoes That 'Tickle' You Directions
WIRED Magazine (Sept 2013)
Vibrating shoes could be the future of navigation and wearable tech
WIRED
Augmented Reality: Obake elastic touchscreen
Wall Street Journal (Print + Web) 
A shapeshifting screen
MIT Technology Review
A New Computer Screen Reaches Out to Touch You
Mashable
A Touchscreen You Can Pinch, Poke and Stretch
The Verge 
Elastic touchscreen prototype lets you pinch and zoom in '2.5D'
Fast Company's Co.Design 
Can A Shapeshifting UI Make You Hug Your Toaster?
Gizmodo
Pinch To Zoom Is Literal On This Elastic Touchscreen Display
BostonInno
Fashion Forward: Wearable Tech to Rock This Fallh
GizMag
SuperShoes tickle your toes to help you find your way
The Verge 
ThinkerToys repurpose old keyboards, mice, and monitors into educational toys
GizMag
Using e-waste to create educational toys, with ThinkerToys
MAKE 
ThinkerToys turns eWaste into fun gadgetry
Gizmodo
Simple Educational Toys Hacked From Electronic Waste
PSFK
Glowing Ice Cubes Warn People on Excessive Drinking
Yahoo News
New LED ice cubes tell you when to stop drinking
Times
Toying with eWaste
Core77
Repurposing eWaste into eLearning
GizMag
Smart "ice cubes" tell you when you've had too much to drink
Arduino
eWate to toys - ThinkerToys
Times
Enablers for the disabled
Global Wire Books
Recharge E-waste: Ideas For Reducing Electronic Waste And Greening The Tech World
Open IDEO
Using eWaste to teach
Tom's Guide
ThinkerToys Transforms eWaste Into Educational, Fun Tools
TrendHunter
The FlipIt Frame Aims to Change the Way People Consume News Stories
PSFK
Media Consumption Device Lets You Flip and Shake to Alter News Perspectives
IMDb
Digital ice cubes designed by MIT student detect how drunk someone is
SlashDot
Smart Ice Cubes Tell When You've Had Enough Alcohol
NPR 
Last word
HackADay
Super Shoes Lead The Way
TIME Magazine
MIT student invents LED ice-cubes that track how much you have been drinking
ABC News 
MIT Student Invents LED Ice Cubes to Track Alcohol Intake
CNN
MIT student invents smart ice cubes
Popular Science
Glowing Ice Cubes Warn You When You Drink Too Much
Mashable
These Ice Cubes Text Your Friend When You Had Too Much To Drink
Cosmopolitan 
Can an Ice Cube Keep You From Drinking Too Much?
Wiley-Blackwell Publishers
The Perfect Meal: The Multisensory Science of Food and Dining
Discovery 
Smart Ice Cubes Tell When You're Drunk
Huffington Post
LED ice-cubes prevent alcohol blackouts
Engadget
Alcohol aware LED ice-cubes
The Creators Project
Alcohol Aware LED "Ice Cubes" Know When You've Had Enough To Drink
The Next Web 
After alcohol-induced blackout, this MIT researcher created glowing ice cubes to track his drinking
Channel 5
Tickle to turn! Smart insoles for shoes offer silent directions for navigation
DVICE
Stop staring at your phone let these vibrating shoes navigate you
Economic Times
SuperShoes soles help you find your way with ease
Creative Applications 
‘Obake’ (o-baa-keh) – 2.5D interaction gestures to manipulate 3D surfaces
The Creator's Project
3D? Whatev! Obake Is A "2.5D" Elasticated Touch Screen Display
ExtremeTech
An elastic touchscreen into which you can literally sink your fingers
Inquisitr 
Obake Multi-touch 2.5D Elastic Screen
DeviceMag
Obake Takes Touchscreens to Elastic Turf; Pinch, Push or Pull at Will
The Week
These ice cubes know when you're drunk
Hack A Day
LED ice cubes prevent alcohol induced blackouts
Nokia Blog
ThinkerToys give e-waste a new life
PSFK
Simple toys made out of hacked eWaste
and on Engadget, Gizmodo, BostInno, Mid-Day, AoL, Springwise, 91M, Los40, Fainaidea, News Deutschland, InfoHighTech, FreshGadgets, FashioningTech, 163, RTL Nieuws, WebWereld, Gagadget, Computeridee, Money, KWiT, TechWeb, LiveDoor, News 10, NewsHour24, KSDK, WKYC, Cool Wearable, Express, Digital Afro, The Wearable Stuff, BRIT, Dapperism, Graphism, TechWeb, e27 Golem, OhGizmo, iGyaan Massachusetts Sun, DVICE, SmartPlanet, The National Student, TechTV, BBC Radio, ABC Radio, Digital Trends, About, DNA, Complex Magazine,  Phoenix Times, Dublin News, Digital Journal, Eureka Magazine, Express, The Curious Brain, Tech Journal, Fox Boston,  Sprinchie, UberGizmo, DeviceMag, Positively Good, Media Bistro, El Obervador, Repubblica, DailyMail, Inquisitr, Enter, InFranken, Focus, Manna, El Correo, Heise Engadget, Afrika, HipsterWay, Culture Waves, RGB Daily, Unconsumption, Linux, Zagg, WattNow, EcoFriend, Electronic Products, MKSHFT, Innovation Toronto, SlashDot, GizMag, PSFK, The Inquisitr, The Blaze, DesignTaxi, MTV, Salon, Paste Magazine, Tom's Hardware, The Blorge, SlashGear, Quirky, DVICE, UberGizmo, Tom's Guide, Trend Hunter, Phys, Protein, Incitrio, Technology

Causes

I care a lot about STEAM (Sciences + Arts) education for children to lifelong learners. 

I believe in learning from all fields and brining in diverse influences to broaden the mind. 

To this end, I have been volunteering my time and resources over the last 15 years, some of them are listed here. 

Advisor and Technology Leadership CircleFoster America

Scientific Advisory Board
XPRIZE Foundation

Founding Director
MIT Media Lab India Initiative

Mentor
Theater Mitu - Hybrid Arts Lab

Admissions Interviewer
MIT

Mentor
MIT Media Lab

Unoffice Hours
Pro-bono
Schedule a 30 min call



Travel


The map is everywhere I’ve been to (black) and everywhere I want to (grey). I often travel superlite (I once travelled for 2 months in 10+ countries with just a small tote bag).

I love history, culture, crafts, arts, meeting locals, strolling. I rarely plan my travels or carry a map. I draw a Guy Debord-esque psychogeographical map of the city in my notebook and set stroll.

Modes of transport: walking, cycling, bus, trains, boats, sometimes planes.


Philosophy


I’m a lifelong student of philosophy, it affords me to see under the surface and from the top. 

Profoundly influenced by Baruch Spinoza, Deleuze, Abhinavagupta, Nagarjuna, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Pythagoras, Averroes.

History


I have always been fascinated by history and continue to devote time every week to learn more.

Most curious about these historical periods: Bronze Age (Near East), Sramana (India), Hundred Schools (China), Golden Age (Andalusia), European Renessaince (Florence), Industrial Revolution (USA).

Literature


Ardent fan of poetry, science, philosophical sci-fi, historical fiction and surrealist works.

I speak 5 languages, I think in English but I sometimes switch my mental language to get new perspectives.

Films


I love films - I think they are the epitome of art meets science meets entrepreneurship.

Some of my favorite filmmakers are Alejandro Jodorowsky, Wong Kar-wai, Jacques Tati, Alejandro Iñárritu, Youssef Chahine, Satyajit Ray, Andrei Tarkovsky.


Our Princess

My better half Andrea Kristinsdóttirand me are parents to shy and sweet Lumi. Born in Brooklyn, she was rescued by our friends at Flatbush Cats




Cooking, Baking & Fermentation


Cooking is the joy of my life. 

It’s an activity that engages all the five senses, the kitchen is a living laboratory with so many thermodynamic instruments, and every dish carries in it a story of a culture, its history and sensibilities.

I usually don’t follow recipes, but prefer to understand the fundamentals and then experiment + intuit my way through a dish.  
This of course doesn’t always succeed but sometimes leads to new unexpected dishes and delightful flavor pairings.  

I love to ferment, I make my own kimchi, pickles, sourdough, natto apart from my own mayo, hummus, butter. Took classes in whole butchery.

Next goal is to have a mini-urban farm.



Like to observe. Like to make things. Trained in science. Self-taught in design. Work is never done only iterations are. Curious about most things. Thinking and doing are the only way. Like to meet new people. Like to meet new animals. In constant search for truth and beauty. Mind and hand are one. Mens et Manus. Nice to meet you. Nicer in person. Pronounced as there-ya dan.