Programmable Matter

Programmable matter is a material than can be programmed to change its shape, color, density, and so on, either autonomously or in response to user input. As it includes modular robots and intelligent “paper” that folds into different shapes, programmable matter does not necessarily need to be on a nanoscale. Nanoscale applications may include swarms of nanorobots called “claytronics”, synthetic cells that perform novel functions, or even quantum wells that behave similarly to actual atoms. Most nanoscale programmable matter is currently in the research-and-development phase, and may not appear for several decades.