Programmable Matter, Smart Matter

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Image from Bernd Helfert

Programmable matter includes any form of matter which can change its physical properties on command. This includes matter which can change its shape, its density, colour, chemical properties or which can perform information processing. Often known as smart matter.

Shape-changing programmable matter includes Utility Fog, Utility Sand, Hyperfog, Nanoflex and other modular robotic materials.

Several kinds of programmable matter can change their chemical and physical properties (especially optical properties) by means of quantum confinement technology and related effects. Quantum confinement technology uses fine control of exitons (electon/hole pairs) to alter the properties of a material; this confinement can occur in one dimension (quantum wells) two dimensions (quantum wires) and three dimensions (quantum dots). Quantum confinement technology is used in many optical phased array systems to emit and absorb selected wavelengths of light.

Matter which is primarily capable of information processing is generically known as computronium; this type of matter can take many forms, which have different uses in different environments.

Modosophont level technology has developed many different kinds of metamaterials for a wide variety of uses, many of which use which use a combination of macroscale and nanoscale engineering, quantum effects and information processing to produce smart matter with many useful properties.

Transapientech smart matter exists in many forms, with many remarkable characteristics such as adjustable strength, density and phase. Some forms of transapient smart matter can be replicated by modosophonts; the required technology may have been given to them by benevolent transapients at some point in the past, or it may have been retroengineered by the modos themselves. Other forms of smart matter (such as the Dittocube) defy all analysis, and are considered to be clarketech.

BAESFTLA (Extensible Matter)
Cargo Gel
Computronium
Dittocubes
Gelbot
Hyperfog
Morphable Pressurized Tensegrity Cells
Nanodust - Text by Anders Sandberg
Layers of dead nanomachinery sedimenting in the dust, on the bottom of lakes and elsewhere. Ideally nanodust should self-destruct, but there are always bugs in that. Micro- and biotech scavengers collect them, but there are always places they miss. So the puddles on a roof collect diamond dust which blows away when they dry out, which can both erode shiny facades, irritate people and catch fire.
Nanoflex
Ouro
Pigment Technology
Polymorphic Architecture
Program - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
[1] A set of instructions that enables a computer to perform a specific task.
[2] The machine language substratum of an AI's code.
Programmable Quantum-Dot Arrays
Smart Packaging
Smartex
Smartstuff
Utility Fluid
Utility Fog
Utility Sand
Vacuum Insulated Membrane

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Construction

Everydaytech

Materials Technology

Development Notes

Text by Steve Bowers
Initially published on 16 October 2011.

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