science

Sifteo Cubes

Sifteo Cubes is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sifteo Cubes rather than just read about it. In short: Sifteo Cubes are an interactive gaming platform developed by Sifteo, Inc. The cubes are 'motion-aware' and 1.5-inch in size with touch screens.

Key takeaways

Sifteo Cubes belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sifteo Cubes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sifteo Cubes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sifteo Cubes are an interactive gaming platform developed by Sifteo, Inc. The cubes are 'motion-aware' and 1.5-inch in size with touch screens. They are designed for use by players ages six and up. On August 30, 2012, Sifteo announced the second generation of their product, Sifteo Cubes Interactive Game System, which was meant to have improved upon various perceived deficiencies of the original Sifteo Cubes. Sifteo was acquired by 3D Robotics in July 2014 for an undisclosed amount of money and Sifteo Cubes were discontinued.

History

The original Sifteo Cubes evolved from Siftables, a working prototype technology developed by David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi at the MIT Media Lab. The Siftables prototype was previewed at the TED Conference in February 2009. After leaving the Media Lab, Merrill and Kalanithi founded Sifteo, Inc. to manufacture and market the original Sifteo Cubes. Sifteo, Inc. debuted Sifteo Cubes at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, at which the original Sifteo Cubes were named an International CES Innovations 2011 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree. The company began distribution of the original Sifteo Cubes in September 2011. The product's successor, Sifteo Cubes Interactive Game System, was announced on August 30, 2012, and began shipping on November 23, 2012. The company was acquired by 3D Robotics in July 2014. The company's website has been removed. The software to program the cubes was moved to GitHub, and parts open-sourced on December 23, 2014. The product is no longer offered for sale.

Features A range of games were available for the original Sifteo Cubes, most created by Sifteo. Sifteo games are designed to be fun while encouraging the development of core thinking skills, such as spatial reasoning, strategy, collaboration, and pattern recognition. Most games target ages 7+, though some are for children as young as four. LoopLoop, an interactive music game that won Best in Show at the 2012 Interaction Awards, was designed and created by San Francisco-based interaction design and development firm Stimulant. Users start, stop, download, and create games using Siftrunner. The Creativity Kit within Siftrunner enables users with no knowledge of programming to create their own sorting games. An Alpha software development kit was available for free on Sifteo's website. Sifteo encouraged users to create their own games and applications for Sifteo Cubes and, in December 2011, began accepting game submissions for inclusion in the Sifteo store. Each Sifteo cube is a 1.5-inch wide block that had a clickable, full color LCD screen, a variety of motion sensors and a rechargeable battery. Sifteo Cubes support 4 hours of play on a single charge; they recharge in a custom Sifteo charging dock.

The technical specifications of a Sifteo Cubes are the following:

32-bit ARM CPU 128 x 128 color TFT LCD 3-axis accelerometer 8MB Flash Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery 2.4 GHz wireless radio Proprietary near-field object sensing technology

See also Tangible user interface Distributed cognition Perceptual learning

External links Getting Hands On with Digital Learning. GOOD Magazine, December 14, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Victor, Bret. A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design. Worrydream.com, November 8, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. The Next List, "Tiny screens". CNN, November 14, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. "New Sifteo Cubes Allow `Intelligent Play'". Bloomberg News, September 23, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. "LoopLoop for Sifteo Cubes." Stimulant Blog, January 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Merrill, David. Sifteo Cubes, Makers and Learners: My Double Ah-Ha Moment. TEDxSantaCruz. Video uploaded January 17, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Download sifteo games

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sifteo Cubes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sifteo Cubes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sifteo Cubes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sifteo Cubes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sifteo Cubes

In research: Sifteo Cubes appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sifteo Cubes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sifteo Cubes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2010s toys, Audio games, Electronic toys, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sifteo Cubes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sifteo Cubes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sifteo Cubes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sifteo Cubes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sifteo Cubes in simple terms?

Sifteo Cubes are an interactive gaming platform developed by Sifteo, Inc. The cubes are 'motion-aware' and 1.5-inch in size with touch screens.

Why does Sifteo Cubes matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sifteo Cubes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sifteo Cubes.