.: Above The Aether :.

1 | Scott

March 21st, 2010 at 9:50 am

There *is* genius to it. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that there are blind people who enjoy a puzzle as much as anyone who can see. But I have to admit that I don’t understand why they didn’t bother to use colors as well so the cube would work equally well for people who can see. Granted, they can look at the dot pattern or go by feel, same as the blind person, but it’s just not as interesting to look at and they might have sold more of them that way. Would it have been that much more expensive to make?

While I’m thinking of it, I wonder if anyone has made a Rubik’s Cube with designs on each side instead of solid colors. You could have each design in different single colors so the cube would be just as easy to solve as one with solid colors, or use a mix of colors to make it more challenging or interesting to look at for those who already know how to easily solve one.

2 | Jim Thompson

March 26th, 2010 at 8:11 am

It’s cruel because it’s harder than the cube we sighted people use. On this cube, the orientation of the center piece on each face is significant; on a regular cube, it doesn’t matter. My guestimate is that this kind of cube has (4^5)*2 = 2^22 = 4194304 TIMES as many combinations as a regular cube.

3 | Jim Thompson

March 26th, 2010 at 8:13 am

(Yes, I still have a Rubik’s cube in my office. Yes, I still know how to solve. I’m a long-time cube geek.)