WOWCube

WOWCube

WOWCube running
Manufacturer	Cubios Inc.
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Seventh generation
Lifespan	2017-nowadays
Units sold	Worldwide: up to 1 million (as of March 1, 2024) (details)
Media	UMD, digital distribution
Connectivity	Wi-Fi (802.11b), IrDA, USB, Bluetooth
Dimensions	76 mm (3.0 in) (h) 76 mm (3.0 in) (w) 76 mm (3.0 in) (d)
Website	wowcube.com

WOWCube is a game console or an electronic enigma structured like Rubik's Cube, also classified as an electronic puzzle; an example of a tactile user interface and the first cube game console. It consists of eight identical elements working as a single unit, and allows running specially prepared games written in Pawn. The license is open hardware (Open Source).

History

The concept of the puzzle was proposed by Savva Osipov in 2016. The first prototype based on Arduino was developed in 2017. The Russian patent was obtained by Ilya and Savva Osipov in 2017. An early prototype was presented on June 8, 2017 at a scientific conference CALL in UC Berkeley, and in May 2018, the puzzle was presented to the general public at the Maker Faire exhibition in Santa Clara, California.

In August 2021, distributors in 18 countries were interested in the WOWCube, with the highest demand in Japan. The company pre-booked 155,000 units for a total of about $39 million (at $250 per unit retail price). On August 30, 2021, it was announced that Cubios had raised another $4.5 million in an A round, including $1.5 million from Hand of Midas Capital and another $3 million from other ventures and business angels. It was announced that the ordering process would begin in September. Overall, the startup was valued at $25 million. At the end of December 2021, it became known that the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed the developers to raise up to $5 million per year through investment crowdfunding: investors were offered 10% of Cubios shares, and the securities could be purchased on the StartEngine platform.

According to the developers, the market launch is scheduled for the second half of 2022. According to experts, the cost of one copy ($250) was equivalent to the cost of a Nintendo Switch console or a "mid-priced smartphone", but due to the specificity of the platform, there was still a risk that the toy would not pay for itself. After the toy's introduction at CES 2023, it was announced that WOWCube sales would begin at $499 per unit.

Description

The operation system used by the WowCube console is FreeRTOS. The P-code is interpreted by the abstract machine of the Pawn language, which allows executing precompiled game logics both on the console, and in its software emulation. The WowCube SDK contains a software emulator, which allows launching the designed games on a PC without an actual console. All components of the WowCube software are used under open licenses, such as MIT License, BSD Licenses, and Apache License.

WowCube SDK includes a software emulator which allows developing software programs with no actual WowCube console available. Currently, the supported operating systems are Windows and MacOS. The emulator is based on the following free open-source software.

• Processing language is used for 3D visualization of the game console, game (picture) uploading and displaying, and conveying various events (turning of the puzzle elements, accelerometer actions) from the user to the logics written in the Pawn language.
• Pawn language is used to write gaming logics, which reacts to events occurring in the actual WowCube console or in the emulator, and responding, in its turn, with a sequence of commands on visualizing the changes in the game environment.
• Visual Studio Code IDE is used to edit the game code in the Pawn language and execute it in the software emulator. The code for the 3D viewer of the WowCube, which is written in the Processing language, can be also edited.