Click to see CUBORO animation (97k).

Why CUBORO? CUBORO constructions tend to be "information rich" (aka "tight" -- even deep?), because there are many different kinds of cubes, each of which makes up only a short increment of path space (and more than one path can go thru almost all the cube types). Other marble runs are mostly run, i.e., long stretches of path whose only attribute is to be a stretch of otherwise undifferentiated space the marble traverses (like railroad track). In CUBORO, something different generally happens just going from one cube to the next, unless the designer specifically chooses to line up cubes to make a stretch of simple path. Another of CUBORO's virtues is that parts of a marble's motion can be hidden inside the cube structure, in possibly quite long "tunnels". Thus a marble can appear in one place and then disappear and later reappear somewhere in the cube structure far removed from where it previously appeared. Also important is the functionality provided by Cube type No. 29 (in the Multi set, See above). Cube No. 29 is an aleatory switch that routes a marble unpredictably down one of two alternative paths, so that a marble's entire path thru a cube structure need not be univocally determined by its starting point. (It seems a shame to have to purchase the whole Multi package just to get the two No. 29 cubes, but since they cannot be purchased separately, I think it's worth buying the whole package to get the flexibility -- the added interest -- they contribute. In general, it seems one should be able to buy cubes selectively and not be restricted to a few predefined packages. More examples: One has to buy 6 storage cubes to catch marbles at the end of the run, to get even one of these pieces. One has to buy a whole Duo set to get a start-of-run "funnel" cube....) Why CUBORO? Ken Kahn's Press Release (link below) says that CUBORO's inventor, "Matthias Etter... first created Cuboro to provide handicapped or immobilized children with a toy or puzzle to occupy their intellect and assist in developing their spatial and aesthetic senses." Anyone can meditate in reflecting while they build and run and change and rerun... their CUBORO labyrinth....   Go to CUBORO company website (Switzerland).
Buy CUBORO at: Construction Toys / Oh! Toys. Read: Ken Kahn (Oh! Toys) Press Release.   Play with signifiers.... RYO: Create your own cartoon! Visit an HTML labyrinth (modelled on one in Chartres cathedral). See George Rhoads marble run sculpture with many alternate paths.   Go to website Table of Contents. Return to Brad McCormick's home page. Go to site map.

http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/WPM/cuboro.html Copyright © 2003 Brad McCormick, Ed.D. bradmcc@cloud9.net 15 March 2006 (2006-03-15 ISO 8601) v03.09