In 2013, MIT’s Tangible Media Group unveiled inFORM, a form of interaction that uses a series of actuated pins to change the shape of its surface. The group’s researchers are building on inFORM with what they’re calling Materiable, which can not only change its shape but also simulate varying degrees of flexibility, elasticity and viscosity.
Like inFORM, Materiable’s pins can be assigned with different properties at the same time. For instance, the left side can be bouncy while the right side is rigid. We can detect and infer information from these properties using our sense of touch, making it a potentially great interface for virtual experiments and educational presentations.
Imagine a having a buddy whose body is made of millions of tiny Materiables. You could go on mathematical adventures together. Or kill the leader of the Human Resistance.
Once a cool and thoughtful expression of affection, the mixtape – along with handwritten letters and photo albums – has become a mere inconvenience. But what if you could update its concept? What if you could still pass on a physical token, but instead of that token being an actual storage device, it linked to the content you wanted to share, which you stored or found online? That’s the idea behind Qleek.
Qleek is a media-sharing system. It has a media player with an HDMI input, a 3.5mm audio input and Bluetooth connectivity. What makes it stand out is how it accesses media. Qleek uses Tapps, which are hexagonal wooden pucks with NFC tags inside.
You can save and overwrite links on a Tapp using the media player plus a mobile app. The link can come from a variety of online sources: YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Dropbox and more.
Because a Tapp doesn’t actually contain your media, you can easily edit and replace the media that it represents. For instance, your boyfriend can hold on for years to just one Tapp, and every so often you can surprise him by updating the music playlist that it links to.
Each Qleek media player will come with three Tapps, which as I said are rewritable. You’ll also be able to order a custom printed Tapp on Qleek’s website, though that’s most likely going to cost you extra. Or just doodle or write on the puck yourself, just like in the old days.
As you can see, Qleek takes advantage of online services while still giving you a physical token to share, cherish and collect. Qleek will even launch with a modular magnetic wall mount to store and display Tapps.
Pledge at least $199 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a Qleek media player plus 5 Tapps. I’m not too keen on Qleek’s hardware. The media player is a bit bland and pretentious, like it was made to be a prop for Her. The Tapp itself is also awkward. Why didn’t they give it a more practical size and shape? But the motivation behind it is sincere, and for that I hope it succeeds. I also hope someone else comes up with a similar product that doesn’t involve coasters and bowls.
The touchscreen and app combo of today’s mobile devices makes one gadget act as many. Different apps display different interfaces, and the touchscreen lets you interact with those interfaces in a natural manner. But what if, aside from changing what you can see, your gadget’s display could also change its shape? That’s what MIT’s Tangible Media Group wants to realize.
What you’re looking at is Tangible Media Group’s inFORM. It’s made of a Kinect, a projector, a computer, pins, linkages and actuators. inFORM can mimic the shape and motion of 3D objects in real time. For example, a monitor can show a two-dimensional replica of your arm, but with inFORM you can have a tangible, 3D replica of your arm. And since it’s 3D you can use that replica arm to carry or move objects just by moving your own arms.
Equally important is inFORM’s ability to act as a collection of 3D pixels, a way of giving physical manifestation to digital information. For instance, it can make actual 3D charts, give you a tangible version of a 3D model in an instant and present even more intuitive user interfaces.
inFORM is a step towards the Tangible Media Group’s dream that it calls Radical Atoms, a “hypothetical generation of materials that can change form and appearance dynamically, becoming as reconfigurable as pixels on a screen… so that dynamic changes of physical form can be reflected in digital states in real time, and vice versa.”
Imagine watching horror films on a Radical Atom TV. Imagine “holding” your loved ones as you chat with them on Radical Atom walls and floors. Imagine controlling a giant mech made of Radical Atoms. Imagine visualizing mind-boggling equations and predictions on a Radical Atom spreadsheet. Imagine having a physical keyboard or game buttons on your Radical Atom mobile device. Aww yiss.
