Forget flat-pack furniture woes! Carnegie Mellon unveils sewing machine tech that creates transformable, customizable furniture and objects from flat sheets of fabric.
Imagine furniture that ships flat, assembles in seconds, and adapts to your needs. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have turned this dream into a reality with a groundbreaking technique using… a sewing machine! This isn’t your grandma’s quilting bee; we are talking about computer-controlled sewing technology.
The team from CMU’s Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and Robotics Institute (RI) have developed a novel method to fabricate “flat-to-shape” objects. These items transform from a flat sheet into a functional, three-dimensional form through simple methods. The secret? Using a CNC sewing machine to stitch pockets between layers of fabric, into which stiff panels are inserted.
Think of it as high-tech origami, but instead of paper, it’s fabric, and instead of folding, it’s sewing.
The Magic of the Machine