Playing tic-tac-toe with a tablecloth and two mugs

Johan Thoresson and his team at the Play Research Studio of the Interactive Institute in Sweden have designed Tic-Tac-Textiles, a pair of computer augmented tablecloths that serve as interface for an internet based variant of the traditional tic-tac-toe game.

The nine squares are printed with a heat sensitive textile colour that change colour at a certain temperature. When a square is heated up, for instance when a cup of hot coffee is placed on it, the colour of the square changes, and a sensor underneath the square register the change in temperature, and sends the data to the other tablecloth, which can be placed almost anywhere else in the world, since the communication is carried via internet.

When the information reaches the other tablecloth, a cross-shaped pattern appears on the corresponding square. he palyer on the other side can then place a hot cup on another square, and a shape appears on the first table cloth.