A domino is a small oblong piece of a material such as bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother-of-pearl), ivory or ebony, with a number of pips (or spots) on each side. It is normally twice as long as it is wide, but can be made smaller or larger. It is used to play positional games where each player places a domino edge to edge against another in a line, trying to form a set value or some other specified total.
The name comes from the Latin dominus, meaning “lord,” “master” or “masterpiece.” Traditionally, a domino was made of wood, but it may now be manufactured in any of several materials. Modern sets are often made from polymer resin, but historically they have been made of stone (e.g., marble, granite or soapstone) and other natural materials such as bone, horn, ivory and a dark hardwood such as ebony. They may be painted or carved. Some are etched with patterns or designs, while others are simply inlaid with black or white pips.
In addition to playing dominoes, many people enjoy using them to make beautiful displays and sculptures. Hevesh began making her creations when she was 9 years old, with a traditional 28-piece set that her grandparents gave her. She liked setting them up in a straight or curved line, flicking the first one and watching the rest fall in sequence.
When Hevesh builds a new installation, she tests it out in the same way that she would test a complex piece of machinery. By experimenting with each section of the display, she can refine her design and ensure that it will work before moving on to the next stage.
She has also created several domino sculptures that are inspired by nature, including a 15-color rainbow spiral made in 2017 with 12,000 dominoes. The key to these pieces is to find a balance between the dominoes’ inertia (the tendency of any solid object to resist motion unless there is a force acting on it) and the energy that is stored within them. “When you release that energy, it becomes available to push on the next domino,” she says.
Domino’s leadership and management styles are also based on listening to customers. The company’s former CEO David Brandon put the principle into practice by introducing changes, such as relaxed dress codes and leadership training programs that included speaking directly to employees. When Doyle became CEO, he continued the trend by participating in employee training and addressing customer complaints personally.
Domino Data Lab is an advanced cloud service that enables you to run AI workloads close to your data—on-premises, hybrid or in a multi-cloud environment—for lower costs and optimal performance. Contact us today for more information. We’d love to help you get started.