Arduino is an open source hardware physical computing platform based on a simple I/O board and a development environment that implements the Processing/Wiring language. Arduino can be used to develop stand-alone interactive objects or can be connected to software on your computer (e.g., Macromedia Flash, Processing, Max/MSP, Pure Data, Super Collider). The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled; the open-source IDE can be downloaded for free.