I just learned today about the Compliant Mechanisms Research lab at Brigham Young University and the amazing work they've done for NASA, medical science, and so many other industries. It's potential applications for mass production consumer products have only just barely begun.
Resources:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=97t7Xj_iBv0
www.compliantmechanisms.byu.edu/
It also seems like the kind of thing that AI would be really good at designing. And if we are to assume AI will only continue playing a bigger and bigger role in engineering, it's inevitable that AI will suggest designs using flexible compliant mechanisms in a big way.
How should compliant mechanisms change our idea of what the future looks like?
What futuristic super-structures might have strange oragami-shaped designs that we could have never thought of?
Do you think it only has niche applications that won't really change our idea of the future at all?
I think it's really hard to say where this tech is going to go, but I would love to hear your thoughts!