A screen made of moving pins
A conventional display changes light; inFORM changes shape. Beneath its surface, a dense grid of motorized pins can rise or sink independently. Together, the pins form a low-resolution, moving model: each pin acts like a chunky three-dimensional pixel, and its height contributes one part of the larger shape.
That makes the table useful as more than a display. A digital object can become a physical bump or contour that someone can touch, push, or rearrange. The result is not a smooth, solid sculpture: the grid leaves a stepped texture, and the pins can represent only shapes that fit within their spacing and range of motion.
From camera input to a changing surface
A depth camera measures how far away different parts of a scene are. Software can translate that distance information into pin heights, then send commands to the actuators—the small mechanisms that drive each pin up or down. As the camera’s view changes, the surface can update, turning movement in front of the table into movement on it.
The same principle can carry a remote gesture into a physical setting: a hand seen by a camera at one location can be represented by raised pins elsewhere. A person there could interact with that changing surface, although the display’s limited resolution and mechanical motion mean it is a rough, tangible representation rather than a perfect copy.
Why make a display physical?
The important shift is from looking at a digital model to feeling its shape. A raised surface can make data, gestures, or virtual objects available to hands as well as eyes. With inFORM, the “pixels” do not merely show an object—they physically move to give it a temporary outline on the table.
