The Campfire is a new computing interface that allows a small group of users to collaboratively consider information. The platform was developed by Eric Ameres, an EMPAC senior research engineer and Rensselaer doctoral student, and Gordon Clement, an EMPAC media systems integrator and Rensselaer graduate.

IBM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have formed a joint research initiative, the Cognitive and Immersive Systems Lab, or CISL, to develop environments combining immersive displays and interaction technologies with cognitive computing.