Sifteo Cubes: how MIT Siftables became a commercial game system
Sifteo cubes were 1.5-inch computers with color screens that sensed motion and each other, built by Sifteo, Inc. from the MIT Siftables prototype. The product was discontinued, and the company's old web address no longer serves a product page.
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From Siftables to Sifteo
Sifteo cubes were small computers, 1.5 inches on a side, each with a full-color display. They sensed their own motion, sensed each other and connected wirelessly to a computer. They grew out of Siftables, a prototype of tiny computer blocks that interact in a network, built at the MIT Media Lab by David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi. Merrill was a graduate student in the lab's Fluid Interfaces Group. The pair founded Sifteo, Inc. to turn the prototype into a product, with Merrill as president. The maker pitched the cubes as a way to get the brain and the body engaged at once, for one player or for friends and family together.
Players installed Sifteo's software on a Mac or Windows computer, bought games and apps in an online library and sent them to the cubes over a USB wireless link. The link worked best within a few feet and could reach about 20 feet in good conditions. A charge gave up to four hours of play, and the charging dock held up to six cubes.
The first collection of titles mixed games for adults that the maker called serious games, learning puzzles for children and games for groups. The cubes belong to the family of tangible interfaces, where the object a player picks up and moves is the controller and the screen at once.
What happened to the cubes
The original cubes debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2011, and distribution began in September 2011. A second generation, the Sifteo Cubes Interactive Game System, was announced on August 30, 2012 and began shipping on November 23, 2012. In July 2014 the drone maker 3D Robotics acquired Sifteo for an undisclosed sum.
Wikipedia states that the cubes were discontinued and that the product "is no longer offered for sale". The software for programming the cubes moved to GitHub, and parts of it were released as open source on December 23, 2014.
Sifteo's own web address tells the same story from the other side. In November 2026 the page at www.sifteo.com reports that it is gone, and the address without www does not load at all. No official page was found that offers the cubes or their games.
Questions about Sifteo Cubes
Can Sifteo Cubes still be bought?
No. Wikipedia states that the product is no longer offered for sale, and the company's old web address no longer serves a store or a product page.
Who invented Siftables and Sifteo?
David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi. They developed the Siftables prototype at the MIT Media Lab and then founded Sifteo, Inc.
What could the cubes do?
Each cube sensed motion and its neighbors, and showed a color display. Games were bought through Sifteo's software, sent over a USB wireless link and played on the cubes by one or several people.