[supernova87a]

That would be really amusing. Those are called Solari boards, by the way, after the manufacturer (Solari di Udine).

Maybe someone enterprising might (or has?) created a character flipping routine that mimics the search through the tiles and set it to the authentic sounds?

The attempt by that company to create their own digital version is really bad. (search youtube for it)

[guptaneil]

Looks like https://www.vestaboard.com is that enterprising company.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/11/16876582/v...

I've never used it, but it does look interesting.

[a_t48]

I don't think vestaboard ever ended up shipping. I was somewhat interested in getting one, but now I'm really glad I didn't put down a deposit. Original estimates were Dec 2018 ship date, now they say Summer 2020.

[taude]

They are coming summer 2020, for about $2200. (I think it's been delayed a few times). They look cool. But for my personal use, not $2200 cool.

[dwyerm]

JWZ created a splitflap hack for xscreensaver. It includes broken flaps and missing flaps, and you can pipe text into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZOL2jyDey0