Think of millions of tiny robots, each with their own computer processors, programs, and stuff like that, plus add in some LEDs. Now put a few million together. Now imagine that they can stick together like magnets. Now add in some logic, and think about what could be done. What could these things actually do?

Well in the right circumstances (and some really smart people!) you can program these guys to work together to create shapes. They’ll even change colors. So in theory you could program a bunch of clay computer balls to change into a footstool, or maybe a pocket knife, or possibly even a cell phone. You could have these guys make up all the furniture and decorations in your living room. Think how easy rearranging would be!

Each computer clay-ball thingy uses electromagnetism to control how it interacts with clay-ball thingies around itself. So they can communicate with each other, shape-shift, and change colors as if they were one unit, a smarter, more realistic, and more practical Voltron.

Now this is some really cool stuff!

More info can be found at Carnegie Mellon: Claytronics.