MIT Media Lab: Siftables

whats that three wheeled chair in the beginning?

Wow is there ever some failure of imagination in the comments here! All of the "drawbacks" you state are the Siftables' strengths.

its a very good thing ithere also a calculator its a learning device

you can make music with these things, with Filters and Effects and Loops

cool technology but poor usability

So it lets you look at multiple pictures at once? Great idea if you want to jerk off.

They're too large.

They're neat, but I want 3D versions, like alphabet blocks, with screens on every side. It's probably only a matter of time.

The only real practical application I could see would be a arrangement of touchscreen panels that run the same concept. Optimally probably the size your hand.

Small tiles would just become annoying, It'd be like having a separate mp3 player for every mp3 you own.

Go to the Siftables website and watch the TED video on these things. It is a presentation from the TED conference (it is also available on the TED website) and I think the potential uses for these things, especially in early education become much more clear and obvious. The music bit at the end is really impressive.