MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video (200 terabytes of data!) to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn.

This is one of the more interesting and visually appealing talks on TED and I was blown away with the videos and images presented. The research combines communication, child psychology, visual imaging, and complex networks. One aspect of their research that I personally found interesting focuses on the feedback loops between and around mass media and social media.

Word Lens instantly translates printed words from one language to another using the video camera on your iPhone. It looks up words for you, and shows them in context. No network delay, no roaming fees, and no reception problems.

Word Lens -- download it free on the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-lens/id383463868