Meet the Qbead: a qubit in the palm of your hands

QuTech A qubit is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, just as a bit is in the computer or phone you use today. But a qubit follows the rules of quantum mechanics, so its behaviour does not match everyday experience. The Qbead puts that behaviour in your hands. It turns the quantum state of a qubit into something you can see, hold, move, and test, helping you develop an intuitive understanding of quantum mechanics. The Qbead is an open source handheld qubit simulator developed by scientists, students and makers, including researchers at QuTech. A point of light inside the sphere represents the state of a qubit. Electronics inside make it sense and react to the user. Rotate the device and the quantum state changes. Tap it and you trigger a measurement. Turn it… tap it… and see qubit behaviour unfold. In this video you can see how the Qbead works. How a small open source electronic gadget can make the logic of a qubit feel more intuitive, both in the classroom and beyond. For teachers, the Qbead provides a new way to introduce quantum technology in the classroom. It can support explanations, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Students can rotate and tap the device, compare the results and discuss what they observe. The Qbead can be used at different levels. It can help beginners take their first steps into quantum physics by exploring qubit operations and measurement. More experienced students have plenty of room to go further by exploring entanglement and other multi-qubit experiments. Users can connect it to a computer, create their own experiments and explore how qubits respond to different operations. Open source is central to the Qbead. The hardware and software are open and available for everyone to use. Teachers can build on the project, develop new lessons and adapt the Qbead to their own needs. Developers and makers can modify the device freely, by adding new functions, creating quantum behaviour they want to share, explore, and explain. The Qbead brings quantum learning out of the textbook and into your hands. Watch the video above, or read more about the project at qbead.org.This website uses cookies. By clicking "I accept" you give your permission to this website to use cookies. What are cookies?This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.