Quite intrigued by Claytronics, a project by Carnegie Mellon University and Intel to give interactive forms to information in such a way that a user perceives it as indistinguishable from reality (yes, magic. It does look like magic, if you watch the video). I wonder why I hadn’t heard of it before. I tried searching for news articles about it and there’s nothing really useful after 2009 or so, which is reflected on their website too. I suspect it’s because their research has been folded into something bigger. If anyone can point me in the direction of recent-ish info, I’d be quite grateful. It reminds me in some ways of the MIT research on sixth sense technology.
From their site:
The objects created from programmable matter will be scalable to life size or larger. They will be likewise reducible in scale. Such objects will be capable of continuous, 3-D motion. Representations in programmable matter will offer to the end-user an experience that is indistinguishable from reality. Claytronic representations will seem so real that users will experience the impression that they are dealing with the original object.
One Size Fits One 