• Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 hours ago

    John Zip would be proud that his two dimensional coupler gained an extra dimension of utility today.

  • AliasVortex@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Hey, that’s pretty cool! I’d be super curious to see how other materials outside of pla (not particularly great for long term outdoor use) or tpu fare, especially with tools like metal printers becoming slightly more accessible.

    Also, it might be worth cross posting to !3dprinting@lemmy.world, it’s always nice to see cool and bleeding edge use cases for the technology.

      • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
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        2 hours ago

        Immediately when i saw this is thought man this will revolutionise the tent game.

        Then i saw the video and am glad they’re all over it

  • BigBrownDog@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    I’m sure people have said similar things about inventions in the past that now shape our everyday lives.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
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      11 hours ago

      Article sort of goes into that a little bit, mentioning the origins of the idea and explaining how this one might actually be useful.

  • west2seven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    11 hours ago

    “William Freeman Ph.D., then an electrical engineer at Polaroid and now an MIT professor, saw it and submitted a novel idea: a three-sided zipper. Instead of fastening pants, it’d be like a switch that seamlessly flipped chairs, tents, and purses between soft and rigid states, making them easier to pack and put together.”

    Interesting but useless.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      If it’s durable and affordable, I can see the use for things like bags and tents.

      Or more specialized stuff like a camera strap that can zip into a basic tripod.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
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      11 hours ago

      Sounds like you haven’t pitched many tents before. Or, more importantly, taken them down. Worst part of camping is packing it all up.

      • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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        8 hours ago

        It’s really not hard. Most people are just lazy or lack the ability to look at something for more then 30 seconds before becoming frustrated. I camp all the time, just spent a week out at a lake with 3 tents. All of them ended up back in their bags nicely, like they do at the end of every trip.

        • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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          3 hours ago

          I camp all the time

          I used to camp once or twice a year. You don’t develop the “muscle memory” to pack everything up nicely. So just just kinda throw it together meaning to sort it later. The next year you grab it and it’s still all fucky and it’s a huge effort to make it less so.

          You’re right insofar as for someone who does it all the time it’s easy, but not so much for occasional users. To be fair that’s sort of the opposite premise than you were responding to. They would’ve been better off suggesting you either never do it or do it all the time.