Siftables

Siftables is a new technology by David Merill that is basically a little computer in toy blocks.  These blocks are intended to take away the mouse of the computer and to give more interaction and more choices to a computer.  It gives the user a new way to interact with a computer.  Each block can sense the other blocks and can sense their movement.  These are tools created to interact with information.  When portraits come together they can tell that there is another portrait next to them they might look at the other portrait.  It is bringing the portraits to life.  There is a color application that lets the user mix colors to try and come up with a new color or the one that works best for what they are doing. They can add colors to one block, or take away color if they added too much of one color in.  The blocks can also do math.  A user can make different equations, and it can become a game to learn math.  The blocks are also connected with a dictionary so you can make words and it will tell you when the word is spelled correctly or incorrectly.  This is made to be a game similar to scrabble.  There is also an interactive cartoon application for language learning.  When a block is lifted off the table the scene changes on the TV, making a new scene and creating a new story.   Merrill even made a music application.  There is a block for bass, tempo, volume, reverse and others.  People can make their own music with these blocks.  There are endless amounts these blocks can and will be able to do.  All of these applications can be used as a game but also as a teaching software that lets the user have fun and have more control so they can pay more attention to it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html