A Digital Master Builder?

"William Mitchell, dean of MIT’s school of architecture, framed the event by envisioning a future of “information-rich design worlds linked to fast, programmable construction machines.” MIT’s Media Lab is exploring design tools with unique interfaces; one of the most intriguing is called Illuminating Clay, which lets designers analyze free-form clay models. The model’s geometry is captured in real time with a laser scanner; using this information, computer simulations of conditions such as shadow casting, land erosion, or visibility are calculated and projected back onto the clay model. A designer can change the model’s shape and see the effects of those changes right away, which allows design options to be explored rapidly without having to type in data."

Thanks to Chris Steins