Intel talks up shape-shifting "programmable matter," bugs us out

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 2nd 2008 at 9:26AM

We've managed to somewhat wrap our brains around shape-shifting robots and printable circuits, but we're still working on fully understanding the latest Intel spill. As IDF came to a close, Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer, presented a keynote speech in which he explained just how close the outfit was to realizing "programmable matter." Granted, he did confess that end products were still years away, but researchers have been looking at ways to "make an object of any imaginable shape," where users could simply hit a print button and watch the matter "take that shape." He also explained that the idea of programmable matter "revolves around tiny glass spheres with processing power and photovoltaic for generating electricity to run the tiny circuitry." For those now sitting with a blank stare on their face (read: that's pretty much all of you, no?), hit up the read link for even more mind-boggling "explanations."

[Via MAKE]

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