Sketch Furniture feels like somewhat of a classic when it comes to ‘Interactive Fabrication’. The question they ask is extremely simple:
Is it possible to let a first sketch become an object, to design directly onto space?
The process of sketching is all important. Not just to designer’s, but across the board (see for example Bill Buxton’s Sketching User Experiences book). So to extend the sketch into the realm of physical form is a very fundamental step.
What’s nice, and at the same time a little disappointing, is how they have presented their vision in the video, i.e. to realize an immediate manifestation of physical form through sketch. I say disappointing because the technology is still some way off, and all we can do is imagine the type of real-time physical fabrication they have illustrated.
The process requires a motion capture system and a large 3D printer, meaning it is beyond the reach of most of us. However they have run several exhibitions where you can see the system in action. Below is a screenshot showing how they process the motion capture data into a form that will actually stand up and stand flat.
