In 1985, the Innovative Design Fund placed an ad in Scientific American offering up to $10,000 to support clever prototypes for clothing, home decor, and textiles. 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.
        • Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          17 days

          Y’see the 3 sided zipper can only exist in cosmic levels of pressure and heat, being constrained by advanced AI controlled magnets to prevent the zipper from getting caught on something.

          • Buddahriffic@lemmy.worldEnglish
            16 days

            A moment of horrified silence for the scrotums/labia of the 18 scientists that collectively discovered this. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

            Oops, the AI controlling the magnets just deleted the database with the records, but it says it is very sorry.

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18 days

    I feel I’d have to see it in action, on a use case, to understand its use.

    • similideano@piefed.socialEnglish
      18 days

      There’s a video in the article showing a few, like pitching a tent and then taking it down.

      • Cort@lemmy.worldEnglish
        18 days

        That tent actually looks useful, if the zippers can hold up.

      • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zoneEnglish
        17 days

        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

    • Albbi@piefed.caEnglish
      17 days

      The video shows a robot with variable leg lengths where the excess is stored in a round drum.

      Mickey Mouse eared robot legs is not something I thought I would see when the title of the post is: three-sided zippers.

  • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
    17 days

    Finally the time has come. Your primitive species has advanced to the point where we can now make ourselves known and offer you an opportunity to join galactic society.

    • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
      17 days

      That’s only when you have 4D zippers. Almost there…

  • BigBrownDog@lemmy.worlddeleted by creatorEnglish
    18 days

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

  • its_kim_love@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    18 days

    I’m not cinical, but this is likely the 4th or 5th time someone has made a 3 sided zipper in my lifetime.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      18 days

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

  • AliasVortex@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18 days

    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 [email protected], it’s always nice to see cool and bleeding edge use cases for the technology.

  • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    18 days

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

  • samus12345@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    17 days

    At a glance, I thought they arranged the zippers to say “smile,” but no, it’s just random patterns.