[natevw]

At first glance, seems a lot like http://littlebits.cc/ only not shipping yet. Might have a bit more emphasis on programming though when it's released?

Their own list of "prior art" https://projectbloks.withgoogle.com/research shows some even older "block-based" electronics kit projects.

[Michie]

I agree. I thought it was another version of http://littlebits.cc/

But upon exploring some works, it seems like writing code but with a tangible object. The User Interface are like the usual toy blocks kids play and they can write code with it.

Interesting move by Google on this.

[haldean]

This seems like the inverse of littlebits. On littlebits, the things you assemble are the output of your system. With bloks, the things you assemble are the code itself; this is more like a tactile visual programming system, not a way to make hardware easier to use.