We were blown away when MIT’s Tangible Media Group first posted video of its interactive pin table in action. But now that the team has had a few years to refine the software and hardware, we’re starting to see more practical applications, and a good case for having one in every home.
The unique table, made possible through a grid of independently controlled pins that can extend and retract, can now manipulate objects to the extent of actually being able to lift and stack building blocks.
The technology is still a far cry from realising an interactive kitchen counter that’s able to automatically prepare you breakfast every morning, given it’s about as skilled and dextrous as a toddler right now. But this video is a fantastic demonstration of the tremendous potential here. Once that surface is made up of millions of tiny pins, instead of thousands of chunky ones, it will be able to manipulate and move objects with remarkable precision. Instead of stacking blocks, it might one day be able to mix and knead pizza dough.