Transparent cubes not allowed

[Ron]

Fellow cubers,

This week I received some transparent cubes from Korea.
With these cubes you can see the colour of some stickers on the non visible three sides. This means these cubes violate regulation 3h of WCA regulations 2006 v2.

3h) No modifications are allowed that enhance the basic concept of a puzzle. Some examples of enhancing the basic concept are: new moves are possible, normal moves are impossible, more colours/pieces are visible, moves are done automatically, more or other solved states.

Therefore these specific transparent cubes cannot be used in official WCA competitions.

Have fun,

Ron

[Paiev]

Does this include the Ice Cube that's being sold? I bought one online, not realizing that it was transparent. The transparency is rather hard to explain, but you can see a bit of the colors on the opposite sides, which I suppose makes it not allowed. If so, it would be good to make an announcement to that effect so that others don't buy them with the intention of using them in competition.

[Ron]

Hi Paiev,

you can see a bit of the colors on the opposite sides

In that case it is not allowed indeed.

Thanks,

Ron

[perfredlund]

Hi

The issue of transparent cubes came up in a speedsolving.com thread. Still in the official regulations transparent cubes are not mentioned explicitly. However, modifications that would show other parts/colours are mentioned. For future regulations modification, transparency should be explicitly mentioned

- Per

[TimMc]

Hi All,

A few questions:
1) Would you consider allowing transparent cubes where all the stickers have white-vinyl backing?
2) Will the amount of transparency be taken into consideration when allowing "Transparent Cubes"?
3) Should the sticker sizes be big enough so that no more than 1mm of any cubie is visible?

It's easier to rule them out altogether but for the sake of keeping this sport fun and others happy it'd be nice to see some rules allowing a few more cubes.

There are probably a few flaws that I've overlooked in my questions, so pointing them out would be helpful.

Tim.

[Ron]

1) Would you consider allowing transparent cubes where all the stickers have white-vinyl backing?
2) Will the amount of transparency be taken into consideration when allowing "Transparent Cubes"?

The regulation says "more colours/pieces are visible". If this is not the case, then such a cube should be allowed.

3) Should the sticker sizes be big enough so that no more than 1mm of any cubie is visible?

I am not sure what you mean.

Ron

[TimMc]

3) Should the sticker sizes be big enough so that no more than 1mm of any cubie is visible?

I am not sure what you mean.

Ron

Having larger stickers on the cube so that there's less visible surface area would decrease the chance of seeing through the transparent cube. If only the corners were exposed while the cube is in a "cube" state then the person wouldn't be able to see through the cube; when used in conjunction with white-backed vinyl stickers.

Tim.

[Ron]

Having larger stickers on the cube so that there's less visible surface area would decrease the chance of seeing through the transparent cube. If only the corners were exposed while the cube is in a "cube" state then the person wouldn't be able to see through the cube; when used in conjunction with white-backed vinyl stickers.

Same again. The regulation says "more colours/pieces are visible". If this is not the case, then such a cube should be allowed.

Ron

[StefanPochmann]

The rule against "more colors visible" doesn't make sense. If your 3x3x3 has more than seven colors, I think it's forbidden by other rules already. I think the rule should instead forbid "color of more stickers visible".

The rule against "more pieces visible" prevents transparent cubes. I assume this is because one could see through the cube and detect a misalignment at the back?

[BryanLogan]

I think if transparent cubes would be allowed, it's simply going to be a lot more hassle to regulate them so that they don't have an advantage. While the Ice Cube doesn't really offer much advantage, I could see someone coming out with a different transparent cube that could have some benefit. If you try to allow certain ones by defining transparancy level, cubie coverage, etc, it's going to be a huge pain to verify if the cube is legal or not.

If someone shows up to a competition with a 2x2x2 Ice Cube, they're probably not serious cubers. Make them borrow someone else's 2x2x2 and they'll probably get a legal 2x2x2 for next time.

[Fractangle]

I honestly don't see this as a big deal either way. Transparent cubes are nifty, but are they any better than regular ones for speedcubing?

[BryanLogan]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but would restickering with Cubesmith stickers really work? If I do a 45 turn on R, then I would be able to see the color on the B side of UB without having to look on the back of the cube. Therefore, more colors visible. Yes, it's a small small advantage, but it seems like the rule would still be violated even on restickered cubes.