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Braille Rubik's Cube

So the blind can drive themselves into mental collapse also!
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Rubik's Cube is a puzzle that came out sometime in the 80's. It consists of a cube which you have to arrange so all the faces are the same color. Each face is split into nine sub-faces. The puzzle is quite challenging.

I propose a braille version of this puzzle, probably for the blind. Instead of each sub-face having a flat colored sticker, each would have a colored sticker with the braille word for that color printed on. A brailler-aware human could easily scan over the entire face and "see" the placement.

DeathNinja, Aug 26 2003

Rubik's Cube http://www.rubiks.com/
Psychosis in a 3x3x3 cube [DeathNinja, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Speed Cubing http://www.ws.bingh.../fridrich/cube.html
This is what happens *after* you have gone completely insane. [DeathNinja, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Giant Rubik's Cube prank in NYC http://www.alltooflat.com/pranks/cube/
[krelnik, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Shameless promotion http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Rubiklock
Taming the infernal cube [RayfordSteele, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Blind man's cube http://twistypuzzle...?pid=63&allprices=1
For sale, $202.5 (at the time that I post this). Whoa. I guess they're collectors' items by now. [jutta, Jan 29 2006]

[link]






       that has just got to be baked. wouldn't need the word just a symbol like the telepathic card symbols
po, Aug 26 2003
  

       Maybe add sensors that "beep" when you finish a whole side. It beeps a little fanfare when you complete the cube.
phundug, Aug 26 2003
  

       Sure, why not. +
k_sra, Aug 26 2003
  

       This gives me an excuse to post a link to a prank I read about recently, where a 8' x 8' x 8' cubic piece of art in the East Village in New York was converted (for a day) into a humongous Rubik's Cube.
krelnik, Aug 26 2003
  

       don't want to be picky, rave but I think a blind person could *read* a braille symbol or even death's colours as quickly as a texture.
po, Aug 26 2003
  

       Nice Link [MrB] but it doesn't say HOW one solves the Cube blindfolded. I also don't believe that is able to be solved in 21 secs from a well mixed state. My brother and I solved it when we were 18 and 9 respectively (a combined effort) and I have seen the most popular solution in books which is nothing like the way I do it.
That solution is more susceptible to speed cranking but mine is more flexible in its approach and can bypass many unnecessary steps.
The fastest that I have completed the puzzle is 54Secs when I realised that it was mixed quite well but the underlying mix was poor, enabling a short sequence of moves to get a much better result from an intuitive approach.
Maybe its just me....
gnomethang, Aug 26 2003
  

       It's *definitely* just you. ;-)
RayfordSteele, Aug 26 2003
  

       I have made something very similar to this. I used 5-minute epoxy to draw different patterns on the squares of a Rubik's Cube (X, circle, line, 1 dot, 4 dots, and blob. After some practice I found it easier to use touch rather than sight because it allowed me to “see” the back and sides of the cube without having to turn it over, so I was better able to keep track of what squares were where.
AO, Aug 26 2003
  

       Nice, now I don't have to look at my rubik's cube when I'm driving. +
sartep, Aug 26 2003
  

       Thanks a lot for the link, [krelnick]. Another hour of my life 'll never get back.
lintkeeper2, Aug 26 2003
  

       Um, That wasn't directed at you [MrB]!. It was directed at the competition contained on the website. Hope you're not too miffed. Byee!
gnomethang, Aug 27 2003
  

       automatic rubik cube reverser.   

       you scrumbble (for want of an english word) up your new rubic cube knowing that each little cube comes with an extendable metallic cord. when its nicely scrumbbled up - you press a little lever and it all goes back to its original setting. impress your friends - feel good about yourself.
po, Aug 27 2003
  

       I'll vote for that!
FarmerJohn, Aug 27 2003
  

       Should give one to David Blunkett to keep him from indtroducing new laws...
Deadlock'd, Feb 04 2004
  

       Um, I am blind and I have a rubik's cube that I got as a child that has tactile shapes rather than colors. Although, it might have colored surfaces as well, I'm not sure. But I can reach around and examine where things are with my fingers without turning the cube over.   

       [SplitChicken], excuse my ignorance, but how can you read the site? I'm fascinated. Oh and you just baked this idea.
k_sra, May 27 2004
  

       MechanicallySeparatedChicken: I would be very interested in talking to you about your cube you mention. Would you be able to email me? roozin at owl dot org dot uk Thank you.
roozin, Aug 01 2004
  

       This was actually baked in the 80's on the TV show "Thats Incredible" on an episode about a blind woman who solved the cube by using letters of the braille alphabet on the little squares.
Jscotty, Jan 29 2006
  

       Back in the early eighties, having become bored with the standard Rubik's Cube, I wondered what I could do with it without the labels (that's dead easy, you might think). I thought I could make the faces distinguishable by touch alone.   

       I attached a keyring at one vertex, to act as a reference point (and to make a nifty key fob, as it was one of the small cubes). As far as I remember, I melted a small brass stud into each minor cube for one face and pinheads on the cubes of another. I melted deep crosses on a third face, large holes for a fourth and roughened the surfaces of the fifth. The last face I left alone to be very smooth (the face, that is, not me).   

       I learnt to do the standard cube myself. Initially, I didn't really have a clue, but when a mate of mine said he had completed it himself, I was determined to do the same.   

       I started from one corner as a reference then matched up the central cube on each face to be consistent with it. It was then easy to complete the 2x2x2 cube at that vertex.   

       From then, I continued along any edge with the aim of completing two full layers. Getting the final corner column of (two) cubes in place was more awkward until I realised that they had to go in together. That is, I left that column free, as a "work space". This enabled the two remaining minor cubes in question to be put together (out of place) and then easily moved into the final column, completing the two full layers.   

       After that, there was a lot of experimentation to find sequences of moves that, upon termination, left the two layers unchanged, but altered the third. I found a set of 4 basic sequences (and their inverses) which did this. Combinations of these had different results. With these sequences, and given completion of the two layers, I proceeded as follows:   

       1. Get the middle cubes of each edge of layer 3 into their correct positions. 2. Get the middle cubes of each edge of layer 3 into their correct attitudes. 3. Get one (or four) of the corner cubes into their correct positions. 4. Get the remaining (if any) corner cubes into position. 5. Get the attitudes of the corners correct to complete the cube (at this stage, at most, 10 of the 8 move sequences will be needed).   

       To any whizz kids, this might seem very tedious. Even I recognise there can be a lot of basic repetition. The fastest I have managed for the standard cube was about 90 secs (lucky), with 5 minutes being typical.   

       However, in developing the sequences, you know that if you muck it all up, you only need to get to two layers again to continue. Furthermore, keeping the two completed layers to your left (say), you really don't need to look at the cube while executing sequences, once you know them.   

       Most important. the reference point, the completed layers and the general progressive nature of the method makes it a lot easier to complete the touch only version, than you think.   

       Also, it can be quite good when you ask someone to mix up the cube and you do it under the table without them realising it, and then present them with the completed cube (though you might get funny looks from people across the room, aware, from your arm movements of your furious hidden manual activity).   

       The fastest I managed with this was 4.5 minutes, with 10 being typical.
redscouse, Sep 01 2007
  
      
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