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McMaster News Health & Medicine Tiny scientists out in the world: Gabriel Xiao takes Baby Lab on the road  Xiao’s software allows the McMaster Baby Lab to go out into the community using iPhone and iPads, making the lab accessible to families across Canada and the world. By Jay Robb, Faculty of Science October 13, 2026 Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Associate professor Gabriel Xiao has figured out how to take Baby Lab out into the community using iPhone and iPads. The move to community-based research will make his lab accessible to families across Canada and around the world. Expert Featured In This Story Gabriel (Naiqi) Xiao Associate Professor See Profile Baby Lab is taking its first steps into community-based research and Gabriel Xiao couldn’t be more excited or proud. Xiao and his team of postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students study how infants think, explore, learn and figure things out. It’s important research because more neural connections — upward of a million per second — are formed during our first few years of life than at any other stage in our development. “Babies aren’t just passive sponges — they’re tiny scientists constantly testing the world,” says Xiao, who launched Baby Lab in 2020. “Right from Day 1, everyday experiences build their minds. So what are the experiences that drive and shape young minds to develop and adapt to the world? That’s the big question we’re exploring.” Yet being studied in a lab — even one that looks and feels like a playroom full of toys and baby-friendly researchers — isn’t an ordinary, everyday experience for any infant, says Xiao. “That’s not a baby’s reality — it’s an artificial experience. We want to study how babies actually develop out in the world, not just how they behave in a lab.” There’s one other stumbling block. While Baby Lab has welcomed nearly 3,000 families, Xiao knows not every family has the time or means to make the trek to McMaster University. “We want to study how all babies develop, so that means Baby Lab needs to be accessible for everyone, without the usual restrictions of time, travel or availability that come with lab-based research.” So Xiao has added software developer to his CV. He’s designed and developed software that turns any iOS device into a game-changing research tool. His software uses iPhone and iPad cameras to track eye and head movements and capture 52 facial expressions. The cameras can pick up the smallest movements and the most subtle of expressions and follow more than one person at a time. Xiao says there’s no limit to how many devices can be networked together and best of all, there’s no need to attach sensors. “Babies, like grownups, really don’t like to have sensors attached to their bodies.” All of that moment-to-moment data captured on iPhones and iPads is then put into an open-source analysis pipeline created by postdoctoral fellow Jesse Pazdera. The pipeline serves as an automated software assembly line that turns raw data into useful information and insights into early cognitive development. Both the pipeline created by Pazdera and the software developed by Xiao are free tools for the research community. Xiao says they’ll make the software widely available once they’ve finished testing it. Xiao purchased eight iPads with a grant from the Faculty of Science and he’s been setting them up and putting his software through its paces. “Community-based research has always been the dream for Baby Lab,” says Xiao. “What once seemed impossible can now be done with the tap and swipe of a finger.” Xiao envisions that tapping and swiping being done easily and at no cost by anyone anywhere from daycare centres and libraries to children’s museums, playgrounds, playgroups and playrooms. “All you need is an iPhone or an iPad to become a citizen scientist,” says Xiao. Research done by citizen scientists across Canada and around the world will complement the studies that’ll continue in Baby Lab. That’s good news for undergraduate students — for six years running, Baby Lab has received the most applicants from undergrads looking for hands-on lab experience in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. More than 100 undergrads have worked in Baby Lab under Xiao’s supervision. Xiao’s just returned from Japan where, over 11 days, he worked with researchers to record the facial expressions, movements and vocal responses of 340 children. “We collected all of this rich data that captures human behavior at many, many levels that haven’t been studied before.” International collaborations will allow Baby Lab to carry out more research projects that explore the cultural factors that influence an infant’s cognitive development, says Xiao. “When we live in our own bubbles, everything feels like that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But when you experience other cultures, customs and norms, you start to reflect on whether there are other ways to raise children.” His trip to Japan also revealed what may be the one downside to community-engaged research. “Clearing eight iPads through customs raises eyebrows and takes a lot of time. I had to turn each iPad on while going through security screening. 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