Augmented Reality Lets You Solve a Rubik's Cube In 20 Moves Or Less

Over the years, programmers have developed algorithms to beat the Rubik's Cube in shorter, faster, and more efficient ways than ever before. And they're even teaching AI to do it.

But now, a student named Martin Španěl has created a program called Mistr Kostky that not only understands the Rubik's Cube, but shows you how to solve it using augmented reality. According to Španěl, the AI can detect two or three sides of the cube at once, and relies on the OpenCV library for image processing. Augmented reality is used to overlay instructions that indicate what your next move should be.

The programmer, who says he developed the app for his bachelor's thesis project at Charles University in Prague, used the existing two-phase algorithm created by Herbert Kociemba to solve the cube.

Mistr Kostky works in two phases. First, the program "detects the permutation of the cube. The faces of the cube can be shown in arbitrary order. Errors are automatically corrected." Finally, after the program has figured out how to solve the Rubik's Cube in 20 moves or less, it uses arrows to show you how to navigate the cube.

However, when asked on Reddit what happens when someone deviates from the program's recommended moves, the author replied that users must restart the puzzle if this occurs.

Španěl's program seems to have been built upon previous attempts at guided Rubik's Cube solutions. In 2009, an iOS app called CubeCheater allowed users to take photos of cube faces and see recommendations for how to solve the puzzle in as few moves as possible. VIPAAR Labs demonstrated in 2013 that Google Glass could help wearers beat a Rubik's Cube using a rudimentary guided overlay created by someone else pointing out instructions.

The app was originally created for Android, and Španěl is hoping to make it faster and usable on most cubes, calling it a "work in progress."