MIT engineers designed a morphing table called inFORM that utilizes hundreds of motorized mechanical pins to physically render digital 3D models in real time, essentially…

A closer look

Screens are incredibly flat, which makes them terribly boring for our three-dimensional human brains. The MIT Tangible Media Group invented programmable matter interfaces by wiring 900 individual square plastic pins to linear actuators. Connected to a depth camera, this mechanical table can instantly replicate the shape of anything placed in front of the lens. You can wave your hand remotely in New York, and a perfect, physical 3D sculpture of your hand will push up through the table in Tokyo, allowing you to physically bat a ball across a room.