Ask anyone who lives in an apartment in a packed city and they'll likely tell you space is among their biggest problems. Those living in even smaller rooms know the headache all too well. Some even pay money each month for storage as a result just to make more room.
Boston-based company Ori is out to solve those problems with a system that uses robotics and apartment furniture to change small spaces in seconds.
The company's new system is also called Ori, which is named for the Japanese word "origami", the art of folding (折叠) paper. The new system makes your furniture change your small space from a living room into a bedroom and even a workspace with the push of a button (按钮).
Ori came from MIT's Media Lab, which works to help companies to create a better future for people. The company is working with developers Boston Properties, Skanska and Samuels Associates to put the furniture in high-end apartments in Boston. It is working with designer Yves Béhar on the furniture designs.
The Boston models are being rented (租用) on Airbnb, an online company offering people rentals, so Ori can collect information about what users think of the system and improve it in the future. The system will be put on the market in the near future, said Larrea, founder and CEO Hasier Larrea.
All of Ori's product (产品) is made in the US, and Larrea said the furniture is actually more expensive to make than the robotics. Assembly (装配) is simple—the unit can be put together in just a day, Larrea explained. The most difficult thing for this MIT team was making the system feel and look personal.
"We have created these amazing robots with amazing abilities," he said. "But when you bring a system into a home, it can't look like a robot."
