<s>
Siftables	B-Application
are	O
small	O
computers	O
that	O
display	O
graphics	O
on	O
their	O
top	O
surface	O
and	O
sense	O
one	O
another	O
and	O
how	O
they	O
are	O
being	O
moved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Siftables	B-Application
were	O
developed	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
hands-on	O
interactions	O
with	O
digital	O
information	O
and	O
media	O
and	O
were	O
the	O
prototype	O
for	O
Sifteo	O
cubes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Siftables	B-Application
were	O
created	O
by	O
and	O
when	O
they	O
were	O
graduate	O
students	O
at	O
the	O
MIT	O
Media	O
Lab	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Merrill	O
and	O
Kalanithi	O
are	O
friends	O
from	O
their	O
undergraduate	O
years	O
at	O
Stanford	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
both	O
majored	O
in	O
symbolic	O
systems	O
,	O
Merrill	O
focusing	O
on	O
human-computer	O
interaction	O
and	O
Kalanithi	O
on	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
and	O
neuroscience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Merrill	O
and	O
Kalanithi	O
were	O
surrounded	O
by	O
colleagues	O
at	O
the	O
Media	O
Lab	O
who	O
were	O
working	O
on	O
wireless	B-Architecture
sensor	I-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Merrill	O
and	O
Kalanithi	O
wanted	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
general-purpose	O
tangible	O
user	O
interface	O
that	O
leveraged	O
the	O
technologies	O
of	O
wireless	B-Architecture
sensor	I-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
this	O
idea	O
came	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
interactive	O
tiles	O
that	O
would	O
enable	O
people	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
collections	O
of	O
virtual	O
objects	O
—	O
digital	O
pictures	O
,	O
document	O
files	O
,	O
etc.	O
—	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
that	O
people	O
interact	O
with	O
collections	O
of	O
small	O
physical	O
objects	O
like	O
LEGO	B-Language
—	O
another	O
common	O
sight	O
at	O
the	O
Media	O
Lab	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
applications	O
envisioned	O
for	O
Siftables	B-Application
were	O
organizing	O
personal	O
media	O
(	O
digital	O
photos	O
,	O
songs	O
,	O
videos	O
)	O
and	O
facilitating	O
business	O
processes	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
coordinating	O
people	O
,	O
distributing	O
tasks	O
,	O
and	O
creating	O
Gantt	B-Application
charts	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Merrill	O
was	O
invited	O
to	O
present	O
Siftables	B-Application
at	O
the	O
2009	O
TED	O
Conference	O
,	O
held	O
in	O
Long	O
Beach	O
/	O
Palm	O
Springs	O
February	O
3	O
–	O
7	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
his	O
talk	O
,	O
he	O
demonstrated	O
several	O
applications	O
on	O
Siftables	B-Application
:	O
portraits	O
that	O
reacted	O
to	O
being	O
placed	O
next	O
to	O
one	O
another	O
,	O
mixing	O
colors	O
from	O
"	O
paint	O
buckets	O
"	O
on	O
adjacent	O
cubes	O
,	O
building	O
the	O
Fibonacci	B-Algorithm
sequence	I-Algorithm
with	O
an	O
arithmetic	O
application	O
,	O
creating	O
words	O
by	O
arranging	O
individual	O
letters	O
,	O
an	O
interactive	O
graphical	O
narrative	O
for	O
children	O
,	O
and	O
constructing	O
a	O
music	O
sequence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
this	O
indication	O
of	O
widespread	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
Siftables	B-Application
,	O
Merrill	O
and	O
Kalanithi	O
decided	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
developing	O
Siftables	B-Application
into	O
a	O
retail	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
transformation	O
of	O
Siftables	B-Application
into	O
Sifteo	O
cubes	O
(	O
the	O
retail	O
product	O
sold	O
by	O
)	O
required	O
a	O
complete	O
re-implementation	O
of	O
code	O
and	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
underlying	O
capabilities	O
—	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
sense	O
tilting	O
,	O
shaking	O
,	O
rotation	O
,	O
and	O
neighboring	O
—	O
of	O
Siftables	B-Application
and	O
Sifteo	O
cubes	O
are	O
the	O
same	O
,	O
the	O
technology	O
behind	O
them	O
is	O
significantly	O
different	O
.	O
</s>
