Mobile apps let you play chess with someone anywhere on Earth, but these robot chess boards remotely connect two players over the internet. So while you still can’t stare down your opponent, you still have the pleasure of physically moving your pieces.
Automated chess boards where the pieces appear to magically move themselves are nothing new. Magnets have been the source of that wizardry for decades. But connecting two boards together over the internet is a clever innovation introduced by a student who also built both of these chess sets from the ground up for a senior project.
We’re particularly enamoured with the way taken pieces politely usher themselves off the board. And really the only improvement we’d like to see is some kind of Battle Chess-like interactions between the pieces. Or, you know, a checkers version for those of us who suck at chess. [YouTube via Hack a Day]