Sifteo Cubes: Changing the Way Society Plays

Sifteo Cubes borrow from the way we used to play and bring that hands-on, face-to-face kind of play into the future. Sifteo Cubes are 1.5 inch blocks that have full computer-like color screens that interact with the player and with the other cubes. Players can manipulate the cubes to engage in game play.

The games can be downloaded via a computer through an online application store. The cubes will be wireless, and they will employ a charging dock, a USB wireless link, and an AC adapter. Because the cubes will not require physical software for game play, the game platform is arguably relatively green option in terms of consoles.

The cubes will change the way society can play video games in the same way other new consoles have done so, with one exception: face time. While interactive, motion requiring games have gotten gamers off the couch, they haven't enhanced the face-to-face interaction that has historically been pivotal to game challenges. Humans have always enjoyed challenging each other, and Sifteo Cubes will bring that human quality back to gaming without sacrificing the spiffy technological gadgetry of the 21^st Century.

While the technology of the Sifteo Cubes presents possible innovations in more technology than just game play, the inventors have not shown any hints of working in any other direction aside from gaming. Because the interface of Sifteo Cubes lends itself toward a natural inclination to manipulate objects, the technology might present itself in office technology, home organizing, and other types of computing. Staring at a computer can be hard on the eyes, mind, and back; however, being able to sift and sort information on various screens might increase productivity as well as creativity in the business world as well as in society.

The cubes debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) during the second week of January, 2011 in Las Vegas. The show proved successful for Sifteo, and the creators opened an Early Access Program to offer the some of the Sifteo Cubes to consumers at a discounted price of $99, including the USB. The Sifteo Cubes are expected to launch in the fall of 2011 at a retail price of $149.