lumino is a project which aims to add a tactile dimension to tabletop computing. the project is being
developed by patrick baudisch, torsten becker and frederik rudeck at the hasso plattner institute at the
university of potsdam in germany. using tabletop computers like microsoft's surface, lumino is a system
of building blocks which are filled with glass fibres to allow light to pass through them. the computer
can recognize the presence of the marker and even when they are stacked. this has many applications,
including some demonstrated below like a construction kit, control knobs for tasks like photo editing
and playing simple games like checkers. the blocks don't require power or maintenance and can be
combined together in large numbers. the research behind this project could have major implications
as tabletop computing and touch screen device grow in popularity.

http://www.hpi.uni-potsdam.de/baudisch/projekte/lumino.html