AutomaTiles
collaborator, 2015–2017
These tabletop tiles operate as a physical cellular automaton, sensing neighboring units and following a simple rule to produce collective behavior that none of them was told to perform.
At Playful Systems, Jonathan Bobrow built a project of individual tiles that interact with adjacent pieces. When placed together on a table, the cluster can simulate a spreading forest fire or a propagating pattern without central direction. Citing Donella Meadows, Bobrow designed the project to make systems thinking tangible through physical manipulation rather than reading.
The project later became Blinks, sold through his company Move38.