Coming to Kickstarter in July, the ePawn Arena connects physical and digital by use of a mat, mobile device, and robotics. Mobile game piece bases make it possible for moves to be made online, yet still have a physical presence on the board. There’s currently 2 videos up. One is a very marketing-heavy type piece, while the other shows a simple, practical use of the product for playing chess online.

We’ve seen similar concepts pop up from time to time, but I’m interested to see this one taking the Kickstarter route. There’s a lot of potential here, but also a lot of room for disappointment.