Re-flex: Responsive Flexible Mold for Computer Aided Intuitive Design and Materialization

The paper presents an ongoing research about the design and a possible use of a responsive flexible mold. The mold is developed by integrating its precedents with automation and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The objective of the design is to provide an immersive design tool which has direct link to fabrication. It allows intuitive interaction to its user in order to help with the design and production of complex forms by supporting the designer's implicit skills with computer. The paper presents the design by illustrating the use of the hardware such as the actuators, the sensor and the projector; and by defining the workflow within the software. The paper concludes with the description of a possible use case in which the system is used to design and materialize an object in different scales