http://tangible.media.mit.edu/project/materiable/

Coming straight out of the MIT Media Lab, Materiable is an attempt to break down the barrier between the computer and the human – to make Human Computer Interaction more 3 Dimensional and tactile – serving especially as a useful tool for designers and architects.

The design incorporates movable blocks which, by moving up and down, create a tactile surface, almost like a pixelated fabric, which the human can then interact with. It can do this in two primary ways:

1. It can serve as a stand in for the human arms – by simulating the movements of the human arm thru the blocks moving up and down – so, a person could move around a ball, or an apple remotely using this tool. This is implemented with a sensor which measures the Z distance of the human hand and conveys this to the remote device, which actuates the motor to move the block upward by the remapped distance.

2. It can also serve as its own entity, by being programmed with different kinds of algorithms, it can respond to human touch, respond to music etc.

While still in the prototype phase, the implementation and implications of this tool are amazing – from allowing designers to sculpt digitally – to making way for a new kind of rapid prototyping for designers and architects.