PE for ME: Physical Intelligence
MIT's Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation and Department of Mechanical Engineering jointly offer this course exploring Physical Intelligence, the body's capacity to sense, think, and move in coordination with its environment. Class sessions use the MIT gymnastics gym as a working laboratory, pairing readings and discussions on the theory of embodied cognition with hands on experiments in balance, movement, and coordination. Students apply what they learn to a design project, building innovative exercise equipment that puts Physical Intelligence principles into mechanical form. The course counts for both physical education and academic engineering credit at MIT, reflecting its dual focus on movement science and mechanical design. Materials on OCW include the syllabus, readings list, and assignment descriptions for the design project, giving a full picture of how the course structures the semester from concept to built equipment.