Cynthia Breazeal
MIT pioneer of social robots who built Kismet and Jibo
- Age
- 58 yrs
- Birthday in 10 days
- Works listed
- 2
- Book, Robot
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
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Cynthia Breazeal is an American roboticist at the MIT Media Lab who pioneered social robots that interact with people through facial expressions and conversation. She built Kismet in the 1990s and founded Jibo, an early home social robot.
Biography
Education
Breazeal studied electrical and computer engineering at UC Santa Barbara and earned her doctorate at MIT under Rodney Brooks.
Kismet
In the late 1990s she built Kismet, a robot head with expressive eyes, eyebrows and lips that responded to people’s emotions, founding the field of social robotics.
Jibo
She founded Jibo, a home robot launched after a record crowdfunding campaign in 2014. It went on sale in 2017 but the company closed in 2019.
Timeline
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1967
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
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2000
Doctorate from MIT
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2002
Designing Sociable Robots
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2012
Founds Jibo
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2014
Jibo crowdfunding
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2017
Jibo released
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2021
Leads MIT RAISE
Notable works
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2002
Designing Sociable Robots Book
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1998
Kismet Robot
Did you know?
-
1
Her doctoral adviser was Rodney Brooks.
-
2
Kismet is displayed at the MIT Museum.
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3
Jibo was on Time’s best inventions list in 2017.
Connections
Also born on 15 November
Frequently asked
Who is Cynthia Breazeal?
Cynthia Breazeal is an American roboticist at the MIT Media Lab who pioneered social robots that interact with people through facial expressions and conversation. She built Kismet in the 1990s and founded Jibo, an early home social robot.
How old is Cynthia Breazeal?
Cynthia Breazeal is 58 years old, born on 15 November 1967 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
Where is Cynthia Breazeal from?
Cynthia Breazeal was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
What is Cynthia Breazeal known for?
Cynthia Breazeal is best known for Kismet social robot; founding Jibo; MIT Media Lab Personal Robots Group; AI education.
References
- Cynthia Breazeal — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Cynthia Breazeal (Q21585) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Cynthia Breazeal”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Cynthia Breazeal.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/cynthia-breazeal
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