Domino’s, the largest pizza delivery company in the world, recently announced it would integrate with Apple CarPlay, allowing customers to order and pay for their favorite pie from their smartphone while driving. The move is part of the company’s strategy to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market and compete against other delivery services.
The domino (also known as bones, cards, men, pieces or tiles) is a small rectangular block of wood, ivory, marble, glass or another material, with one face bearing an arrangement of spots or pips and the other blank or identically patterned. The identifying pattern may differ from domino to domino, but most sets have a line down the middle that divides them visually into two squares, with each side having a value of either six pips or none. The sum of the values of a domino or pair of dominoes determines its rank or weight.
Most domino sets are arranged in rows of matching tiles, and each player has an equal number of dominoes. They can be used to play a variety of games, the most common being blocking and scoring games. Some domino games have a very different character, including solitaire and trick-taking games that are often played to circumvent religious prohibitions against the use of cards.
Lily Hevesh began playing with dominoes as a child, and her grandparents had the classic 28-piece set. She was fascinated by the way in which a single domino could tip over so many other tiles. Hevesh now creates dazzling domino installations for movies, TV shows, and events. Her YouTube channel features videos of her working on projects that involve hundreds of thousands of dominoes. Some of her most elaborate setups take several nail-biting minutes for the last domino to fall, but once they do, the result is stunning.
For Hevesh, the most important factor in creating a successful domino display is planning ahead. She tests each section of a display before beginning. She also films the test in slow motion to identify and correct any problems. She has found that some sections, such as 3-D arrangements and curved lines, are more difficult to get right than others.
In the past, domino sets were made from natural materials like bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory and dark hardwoods such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted on them. More recently, domino sets have been made from synthetic materials such as polymer. In addition, some modern sets are arranged in a grid format and are more easily stacked because they have a rigidity that allows them to fit together. Sets are also available in a wide variety of colors. The most common are yellow or red, but blue, green and purple sets are also available. Many of these are manufactured using 3D printing technology. Some of the more specialized dominoes are made from metals such as pewter and brass. Some are even made of crystal or frosted glass.