Who of us didn't enjoy our time playing with building blocks from Lego. Now however we are so entangled into computer games that it hardly bothers us that the next generation may miss out on plain old problem solving skills. Interacting with a computer does freak some out enough for them to never play on the PC. Well Mark Gross, aims to provide a more playful interface for computers. To see Posey in action, skip to one quarter of the way through this video clip (65mb, mp4 format) showing one of the researchers at a public meeting. Posey's plastic pieces are a mix of hubs and struts that connect with ball-and-socket joints. This device keeps The pieces have LEDs and sensors built into their ends so that they can communicate using coded signals of light. Pieces can also sense the angles between themselves and their neighbours, allowing the software to model their overall shape. Each piece's plastic shell is stuffed with chips and devices for processing these signals. They are sent wirelessly to a computer using a low-power protocol called ZigBee. This means, bending Posey's pieces can make objects on-screen respond in real time. This is a great tool for character animators who need every joint to be easily manipulated & updated with the on screen model.

Right now, each custom-made piece has about US$50 (£25) worth of parts, Weller estimates. But if mass produced, it could be much cheaper. The group are trialling a few different uses for Posey. One of the more serious ones is using it to simultaneously build real and virtual models of molecules.

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