A video showed of a student manipulating a cube with multiple colors. Despite the blindfold, he was able to solve the puzzle in just 17 minutes!
Each face of the three-dimensional (3G) cube returned to having one color only. The student was able to arrange the colors in perfect order in his best time.
The student in the video is 19-year-old Gabriel Angelo Hilado of Barangay Caridad, Bago City in the Province of Negros Occidental. He is a second-year college student.
At nine years old, Gabriel demonstrated a strong interest in playing the Rubik’s Cube, a mathematical puzzle designed by Hungarian inventor Ernö Rubik, that uses the principles of symmetry, permutations, and combinations.
Gabriel said that he was immediately drawn to the Rubik’s Cube when a cousin taught him how to play it.
At first, he said, it was just child’s play, not actually a puzzle to solve.
“Parang laro-laro lang naman sana. Parang ginawa ko nang hobby. Sa patuloy na paglalaro, na-enhance. Ang first cube kong na-solve, pag-aari ng pinsan ko,” Gabriel said.
From that day on, Gabriel has not skipped playing the cube. A special interest on how the principles and algorithms work to make scrambling easier stimulated him all the more. He challenged his skills to the next level by joining competitions.
In the first-ever competition he joined in, he placed third in cube speeding at the regional level of the Western Visayas Cube Master tilt in Iloilo City.
Later, he started accumulating medals after he won the championship in the national competition for the 5 by 5 category in cube speeding. He clocked 18 minutes and 39 seconds in that competition.
Gabriel is reported to be the second Filipino to have carved such a record.
Aside from being a Rubik’s Cube speedcuber, Gabriel aspires to become a Mathematics teacher.
“Kung makakakita sila ng Rubik’s Cube, parang ako ang kanilang maaalala. Gusto ko silang i-inspire, gusto ko silang turuan. Example, may mga batang may interest sa cube, sa una lang ang mahirap,” Gabriel elucidated.
His parents take pride in Gabriel’s interest in the Rubik’s Cube because what they thought was just a toy has now brought him accolades.
“Parang wala lang eh, parang naglalaro lang, support pa rin. Sa mga mother, kung ano ang gusto, huwag i-pressure or pilitin ang bata at support (lang),” Gerlie Hilado, Gabriel’s mom, said.