The Rubik’s Cube Turns 50
The Cube is also a good challenge for machine learning systems And robots.
And Maria Mannone, an Italian theoretical physicist and composer, found the “CubeHarmonic,” a musical instrument developed with Japanese collaborators. “It’s a Rubik’s Cube, with musical chords on each facet, a note on each facet,” she explained in an email. “As we scramble the cube, we scramble musical chords.”
Parisian street artist Invader creates “Rubik’s Cubist” works, figurative canvases assembled like a mosaic of hundreds of cubes. Invader’s version of “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” Picasso’s first Cubist painting, used 1,848 cubes to create a reproduction that was the same size as the original.
Lauren Roos, a mathematician at Bard College in New York, uses the Cube as a teaching tool in courses for both math majors (who delve into algebra) and non-STEM majors (they learn to solve the puzzle, explore patterns, count their configurations, and design and build mosaics). “There is so much depth to this puzzle,” said Dr. Rose at the San Francisco conference. She believes part of the reason the Cube has endured is because it is “so accessible and fun.”
“It’s a good way to get people learning math,” she added.
By now, all the Platonic solids have been transformed into twisty puzzle variants. And to riff on the original, there’s the 4-by-4-by-4 Rubik’s Revenge, the 5-by-5-by-5 Professor’s Cube, and on up to the 7-by-7-by-7, the largest cube used in World Cube Association competitions. The 21-by-21-by-21 is the largest cube generally available on the mass market ($1,499.99). The 256 by 256 by 256 only exists in the virtual realm, where it dissolved by a team of six with 633,494 moves in a total time of about 96 hours.
During the Q&A session, Dr. Rokicki asked Mr. Rubik about the hollow Void Cube, by Japanese inventor Katsuhiko Okamoto, who has created dozens of variations on the original. Somehow, the Void lacks the central cubes and internal mechanics that hold Mr. Rubik’s iconic invention together. On this subject, Mr. Rubik waxed philosophical again. “Perfection is an idealistic encounter,” he said. He understood the curiosity-driven explorations, adding something, taking something away. He preferred the classic combination of cubes and colors. “I also like the sound of the Cube, the movement,” he said.
Mr. Rubik later added that he wasn’t too fond of puzzles that are just meant to be puzzles. He said: ‘I love the mysterious content of life and the universe as it is.’
