With the publication of his first origami book in 1954, Yoshizawa also made the art form more accessible, establishing an easily understandable language of dotted lines, dashes, and arrows that contributed to systems still used today. He breathed life and personality into each creature he designed, from a stern-faced gorilla glowering out of sunken eyes to a baby elephant joyfully swinging its trunk. Then, in the mid-20th century, origami master Akira Yoshizawa helped elevate paper folding to a fine art. As paper prices fell, origami’s uses spread to gift wrap, playthings, and even geometry lessons for kids. Initially, models were simple and-because paper was expensive-used largely for ceremonial purposes, such as the male and female paper butterflies known as Ocho and Mecho that festoon sake bottles at Shinto weddings. The art of origami has existed in Japan since at least the 17th century, but there are hints of paper folding from long before. By varying vacuum pressure, Li can make the arms perform useful tasks, like lifting and grasping. Each arm acts like an artificial muscle, encased in a vacuum bag “skin” with an inner skeleton inspired by origami’s folds. By testing other shapes, he realized that fold patterns and material stiffness controlled their motions, a discovery that led to the creation of these soft, strong, and lightweight robotic arms. Li, then a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and MIT, pumped out the air and was surprised to see the shape contract as if he’d pressed it with his hand. Shuguang Li was playing with a collapsible origami cylinder when, on a whim, he put it in a vacuum bag. “That’s a wonderful place for the field to be.” Lang, a preeminent origami artist who previously worked as a laser physicist. What began as efforts to understand the math behind fold patterns has opened up surprising possibilities for manipulating the shape, movement, and properties of all kinds of materials-filters of face masks, the plastic of kayaks, even living cells. The boat, created by the company Oru Kayak, is part of a scientific and technological revolution inspired by the centuries-old art of origami. Instead, the plastic suitcase has transformed, and suddenly a full-size kayak is sitting in my living room. The dogs sprint for cover, scrambling across wood floors, while I frantically look for damage, heart pounding. Pushing outward on the creases of one side, I hear a shockingly loud pop. My canine companions take a curious sniff as I unfurl the rigid form, which spans nearly the width of my living room. Packed inside is a single sheet of white corrugated plastic folded into what looks like a large suitcase. See comparison page.A cacophony of barking alerts me to the cardboard box delivered to my front door.
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