Released on - 7/1/2010 1:34:24 PM
Imagine a "smart" cup that increases in size according to the amount of liquid poured into it. Or a Swiss Army knife that changes shape into a hammer or a pair of scissors according to the use you want to put it to.
Visualise a few innocuous sheets of paper lying on your coffee table. They are untidy, yes, but nothing special about them. All of a sudden, they start moving about and folding themselves into different shapes: birds, animals, boats, aeroplanes and so on. Remember how your parents taught you origami, the art of folding paper into interesting shapes? Well, you don't need to teach that to your own children now. All you need to do is get hold of some of these automated sheets, which automatically fold themselves and do all of the work for you.
The centuries-old craft of origami has indeed been automated. Scientists at MIT and Harvard have created sheets of paper that can fold themselves without the helping hand of a human!
The Future of Origami
Does this mean that origami will die, or will this age-old art get a new boost? The team of scientists has created electronic sheets of paper that can be programmed. This means they can actually tell a sheet of paper to become an aeroplane. Then, the e-paper follows the code fed into it and starts folding itself in the shape of an airplane.
So, now people won't have to learn origami and they won't need to master the skill of folding paper precisely. A machine won't do it for them but the very paper itself will be able to do so to absolute perfection. This might also revive interest in origami because the e-paper will be able to twist and turn itself into far more intricate shapes than we could ever imagine!
The Uses of Shape-Shifting Devices
Why would a team of top-notch scientists bother so much over a few humble sheets of paper? Well, it seems that automated origami is just a by-product of this technology. It has several other uses, for example, it can be used to create "shape-shifting devices". Such devices could be used in the military or in space.
The self-folding paper comprises several triangles that are connected to one another. They have "universal crease patterns" and "elastomer joints". The team calls this material "programmable matter by folding".
Visualise a few innocuous sheets of paper lying on your coffee table. They are untidy, yes, but nothing special about them. All of a sudden, they start moving about and folding themselves into different shapes: birds, animals, boats, aeroplanes and so on. Remember how your parents taught you origami, the art of folding paper into interesting shapes? Well, you don't need to teach that to your own children now. All you need to do is get hold of some of these automated sheets, which automatically fold themselves and do all of the work for you.
The centuries-old craft of origami has indeed been automated. Scientists at MIT and Harvard have created sheets of paper that can fold themselves without the helping hand of a human!
The Future of Origami
Does this mean that origami will die, or will this age-old art get a new boost? The team of scientists has created electronic sheets of paper that can be programmed. This means they can actually tell a sheet of paper to become an aeroplane. Then, the e-paper follows the code fed into it and starts folding itself in the shape of an airplane.
So, now people won't have to learn origami and they won't need to master the skill of folding paper precisely. A machine won't do it for them but the very paper itself will be able to do so to absolute perfection. This might also revive interest in origami because the e-paper will be able to twist and turn itself into far more intricate shapes than we could ever imagine!
The Uses of Shape-Shifting Devices
Why would a team of top-notch scientists bother so much over a few humble sheets of paper? Well, it seems that automated origami is just a by-product of this technology. It has several other uses, for example, it can be used to create "shape-shifting devices". Such devices could be used in the military or in space.
The self-folding paper comprises several triangles that are connected to one another. They have "universal crease patterns" and "elastomer joints". The team calls this material "programmable matter by folding".
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