Thanks to MIT’s David Merrill you may never look at Toy blocks in the same way again.

This TED talk by MIT Media Lab’s David Merrill sees him introduce a new invention called Siftables, little toy blocks that are essentially small computers with screens.

We spoke to David recently and asked him a few questions about the project.

Me: How did the idea for Siftables first come to you?

David: The motivation for Siftables was a realization that there was no human-computer interface that simultaneously leveraged our visual search/pattern-matching capabilities and our manual dexterity for handling collections of objects. Imagine a pile of Legos on the table in front of you, and think about how you would inspect, then sift and sort the pieces in search of particular ones or to categorize them into groups.

We skillfully manipulate collections of objects all the time — when we interact with game pieces and playing cards, stacks of photographs, toys such as marbles or toy cars, food bits when we are cooking, and more. These activities involve our eyes (scanning, recognizing) and both hands (grasping, moving), and the vision for Siftables is that they would replicate this type of interaction but for digital content, taking advantage of our existing skills.

Me: In testing what has excited you most about the potential for playful learning?

David: Different kids have different learning styles, and the potential for hands-on manipulation of objects and spatial relations is something that educational theorists have recognized as valuable for a long time. With Siftables we have the opportunity to connect these classic object-manipulation scenarios to the vast world of digital and interactive content. Also, just like blocks or other toys, the potential for multi-person collaborative interaction is huge.