Programmable Matter

Programmable matter - Catoms

Everyone has heard of the term ‘Virtual Reality’ which deals with the projection of an image through matter allowing holographic images to be transmitted from one node to another. The next iteration to that would be ‘Synthetic Reality’. Imagine if we can stretch a cellphone to make it big, or even press a button so that it immediately transforms into a laptop. Currently, it sounds improbable, but Intel is working on making this bizarre dream come true.

Programmable matter is more commonly known as shape-shifting technology and Intel believes that in less than a decade, this concept will become a reality. In order to augment this technology, Intel has created spherical shaped micro-robots termed as ‘catoms’ which have the capability to be programmed. Millions of ‘catoms’ can coalesce together to form any particular shape we can imagine. These self-actuating, transformable catoms can test the concept of power distribution, motion, communication, near-field data transfer that would eventually be applied in the field of Nano-robotics and shape-shifting microbots.

What is even more alarming is the fact that these particles are inherently interchangeable, which means they can shift from one form to another within milliseconds; thereby making it impossible for humans to even notice the transformation. When scientists dove into the concept of demonstrating planar motion without possessing any moving parts, the planar catom concept was launched. Initially, it was a concept vehicle engineered with a Solaris catalog-sourced hardware. But with the recent advances made in the field of molecular robotics, these catoms have transformed into custom-designed electromagnetic systems that have the potential to carry a complete control package aboard their structure.

This technology is hardly just a novelty. Their possibilities, especially in the field of medicine could be endless. Imagine the possibility where surgeons could model the internal...