Nataliya Kosmyna

Dr. Kosmyna is a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces group and a Visiting Faculty Researcher at Google. She has over 16 years of experience in developing and designing end-to-end brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Coming from a background in AI, neuroscience and human-computer interaction (HCI), she is passionate about the idea of creating a partnership between AI and human intelligence, a fusion of the machine with the human brain. Most of her projects are focused around BCIs in the context of consumer grade applications. Dr. Kosmyna is working on: recreating mental images (a process known as brain-to-image decoding), measuring engagement, fatigue or confusion of a person. Dr. Kosmyna’s projects explore ways of helping people with ALS, mvASD and other health challenges, to communicate with their families, caregivers, and to control their homes or robots. Several projects of Dr. Kosmyna are focused on fostering growth mindset in children. Finally, Dr. Kosmyna is interested in understanding further the true cost of using tools around us (her work on cognitive debt when using LLM chatbots), as well ways of shaping a future that benefits all of Humanity (Humans Commons Licenses). Dr. Kosmyna’s solutions and art projects are successfully deployed in the classrooms, hospitals, workspaces, aerospace, Lower Earth Orbit, and on the Moon. These projects are also presented to general public and were tested by more than 16000 people in 2015-2026. Nataliya won multiple awards for her work, among which is L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science award she received in 2016. Dr. Kosmyna has served as one of 24 international experts for UNESCO to help prepare a first draft of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology. The final text of the Recommendation was adopted in November 2025 at the 43rd session of the General Conference. Dr. Kosmyna has also served on the Expert Advisory Group on Neurotechnology and Children for UNICEF. At Fluid Interfaces group @MIT Media Lab, Nataliya works on designing and testing novel hardware solutions and paradigms for different applications (such as learning, driving) and user groups. Her work was covered in more than 400 TV appearances, radio and other news outlets all around the world including but not limited to: New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN, Washington Post, Time, Nature, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, MIT Tech Review and more.