Ori designs robotic furniture to create more living space

Modern furniture: Ori Systems claims to put together intelligent, responsive technology with interior architecture and contemporary design.

The MIT Media Lab spinoff Ori has developed a potential solution to cramped studio spaces with a line of robotic furniture.

Ori Systems

Developed through a collaboration between Fuseproject (led by designer Yves Béhar) and MIT Media Lab, Ori Systems combines intelligent, responsive technology with interior architecture and contemporary design for a product that could provide a solution to a very real problem in today's cramped urban dwellings.

Fold, slide, hide

Inspired by the Japanese word "origami", the art of folding paper to make something creative, Ori's furniture uses modular and scalable mechatronics to glide across the floor, enabling users to design the layout of their living spaces themselves. Beds can be slid or folded into sliding structure that provide room separation, but which can also be moved out of the way to make one space larger than the other, or even completely hidden.

A device attached to the main unit can be accessed using an app, and has the ability to connect to other smart home systems. The unit itself is available in Full (double bed) and Queen (queen-sized bed) systems containing multiple storage spaces to be used as closets, desks and cabinets. With a press of a button either on the device or app, the unit slides and folds into the selected setting.

While the initial two versions are intended for home interiors, there is significant potential for commercial adaptation, as Fuseproject implies on their blog: "The way we experience our living spaces, and maybe one day offices too, now has the ability go past the static structural elements of the past."

The first versions of Ori's architectural robotics will be available from developers in Boston, Washington DC and Seattle this summer. —  AFP Relaxnews