Anything (yes, anything) can be interactive.

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

A team at Nokia in Finland has created a computer touchscreen display out of ice.

Insert joke here.

Paul Marks writes that Jyri Huopaniemi at Nokia’s research lab in Tampere, whose team built the touchscreen, dubbed Ubice, or ubiquitous ice, admits that it is not a practical device, but is seen as a step towards an era in which surfaces around us gain computing capabilities, generally referred to as ubiquitous computing.  Ubiquitous computing, also known as pervasive computing is mode of interactive in which computers become embedded in surroundings, allowing people to interact with many types of computer-generated media without using a formal computer.  “This was a playful experiment, but one that we think showed interactive computing interfaces can now be built anywhere,” said Huopaniemi.