Smart Tiles are small, computationally-controlled pieces that can be assembled into an array to create complex and beautiful dynamical patterns. The Tiles are essentially tiny LED-equipped "boxes", programmable by the user, that can be placed into slots within the larger array; the sorts of programs that one writes for the tiles are those typical of cellular automata (such as Conway's "Game of Life" system). The tiles also include piezoelectric disks, making them interactive; for instance, one can program a tile so that it will change its color when it is tapped gently by the user.
Smart Tiles is still a system in early stages of development; the accompanying movie shows a demo of the tiles in an array (here the tiles are simply flashing random colors), responding to touch, and being inserted and removed from the array manually. The movie also shows how other sorts of craft devices could be substituted for individual tiles in the array; here, a commercially available mechnanical automaton kit is controlled by a tiny "substitute tile".
Click here to see a movie of our earliest prototype of Smart Tiles.