Sandboxes are touch-sensitive Liquid Crystal Displays built into handcrafted oak and oak plywood enclosures. Custom software running on a personal computer animates the sand and generates the possibilities for interaction.
The software for the system is written in Java, largely using the Processing development environment. The problem of efficiently animating so many individual grains of sand is solved by bypassing computationally expensive traditional animation techniques and directly manipulating the pixels on the screen. Communication across the Sandbox Network is administered by a server, also written in Java, which operates from a central location on the Internet.
The physical devices are painstakingly planned, cut, shaped, finished, and assembled out of oak. A long list of tools contribute to their construction, ranging from paper and pencil, illustration and design software, laser cutters, saws, a CNC mill generously provided by Glide Studio, a biscuit joiner, clamps, files, chisels, countless sheets of sandpaper, brushes, rags, finishes, drills, and screwdrivers.
Only the best natural oils, shellac, and resins are used to finish the Sandoxes. They provide superior protection against wear and environmental factors and enhance the natural beauty and pleasant feel of the wood.