What is the future of furniture? Paper and tape. At least that is the solution coming from Bulgarian designer Petar Zaharinov, whose latest line of furniture is made entirely and solely of these two components. Having always been inspired by puzzles and “things that seem impossible”, he introduces a simple way of attaching planes together with duct tape in a chess pattern, which allows him to create sturdy, foldable tables, desks, chairs, book shelves, beds, and even storage bins.
“I wanted to provoke those who think that the only possible future is super high-tech, with artificial intelligence and wi-fi built in everything. I think this will be only one part of it. The other will be extreme simplicity and customization. I don’t think that people will stop using massive furniture, but for the modern person who travels a lot and changes their location every few years, this may be a great solution.”
The idea for TapeFlips came to Petar during his preparation for an international design competition exploring the topic of “Anti-fragility”. After reading Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, Petar was intrigued by the question how to create furniture that didn’t suffer from the passage of time.
“According to Taleb, we are living in an age that is constantly changing and increasingly hard to predict, so we need to build our lives and our businesses in a way that they gain from that change instead of lose from it. I realized that in order for the entire system to not be fragile, its components needed to be. I used this concept for TapeFlips. I wanted to build a system of furniture where each of the components can be easily transformed, repaired, customized, and adapted. Even the materials needed to be very basic like tape and cardboard.”
The result is creative, innovative, and practical. TapeFlips can adapt easily - rearranging the parts gives you new setups, allows you to adjust dimensions (for example, the height of a desk or chair), and save space. The paper panels are light, waterproof, and the owner can easily print patterns on them. The tape behaves as hinges and ensures a 360 angle of rotation. As for durability, Zaharinov says that a chair, for example, has been tested to hold up to 100 kilos, but as tape is crucial for durability, his team plans to develop their own brand to ensure the quality of each piece.
Currently, TapeFlips biggest fans are environmentally conscious people and organizations, parents, and event organizers. The cardboard is recycled and recyclable. Building the furniture itself is a fun and bonding activity for parents and their kids, and the pieces are light and safe. They are also easy to carry, mobile and versatile, making them perfect for transforming event spaces and store windows.
For now, Petar’s plan is to continue testing the furniture with clients and build a community around the TapeFlips concept. The next stage will be finding an investor in order to begin mass production.
Photos: TapeFlips
U.S. Navy ships
The U.S. Navy controls patents for some futuristic and outlandish technologies, some of which, dubbed "the UFO patents," came to light recently. Of particular note are inventions by the somewhat mysterious Dr. Salvatore Cezar Pais, whose tech claims to be able to "engineer reality." His slate of highly-ambitious, borderline sci-fi designs meant for use by the U.S. government range from gravitational wave generators and compact fusion reactors to next-gen hybrid aerospace-underwater crafts with revolutionary propulsion systems, and beyond.
Of course, the existence of patents does not mean these technologies have actually been created, but there is evidence that some demonstrations of operability have been successfully carried out. As investigated and reported by The War Zone, a possible reason why some of the patents may have been taken on by the Navy is that the Chinese military may also be developing similar advanced gadgets.
Among Dr. Pais's patents are designs, approved in 2018, for an aerospace-underwater craft of incredible speed and maneuverability. This cone-shaped vehicle can potentially fly just as well anywhere it may be, whether air, water or space, without leaving any heat signatures. It can achieve this by creating a quantum vacuum around itself with a very dense polarized energy field. This vacuum would allow it to repel any molecule the craft comes in contact with, no matter the medium. Manipulating "quantum field fluctuations in the local vacuum energy state," would help reduce the craft's inertia. The polarized vacuum would dramatically decrease any elemental resistance and lead to "extreme speeds," claims the paper.
Not only that, if the vacuum-creating technology can be engineered, we'd also be able to "engineer the fabric of our reality at the most fundamental level," states the patent. This would lead to major advancements in aerospace propulsion and generating power. Not to mention other reality-changing outcomes that come to mind.
Among Pais's other patents are inventions that stem from similar thinking, outlining pieces of technology necessary to make his creations come to fruition. His paper presented in 2019, titled "Room Temperature Superconducting System for Use on a Hybrid Aerospace Undersea Craft," proposes a system that can achieve superconductivity at room temperatures. This would become "a highly disruptive technology, capable of a total paradigm change in Science and Technology," conveys Pais.
High frequency gravitational wave generator.
Credit: Dr. Salvatore Pais
Another invention devised by Pais is an electromagnetic field generator that could generate "an impenetrable defensive shield to sea and land as well as space-based military and civilian assets." This shield could protect from threats like anti-ship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles that evade radar, coronal mass ejections, military satellites, and even asteroids.
Dr. Pais's ideas center around the phenomenon he dubbed "The Pais Effect". He referred to it in his writings as the "controlled motion of electrically charged matter (from solid to plasma) via accelerated spin and/or accelerated vibration under rapid (yet smooth) acceleration-deceleration-acceleration transients." In less jargon-heavy terms, Pais claims to have figured out how to spin electromagnetic fields in order to contain a fusion reaction – an accomplishment that would lead to a tremendous change in power consumption and an abundance of energy.
According to his bio in a recently published paper on a new Plasma Compression Fusion Device, which could transform energy production, Dr. Pais is a mechanical and aerospace engineer working at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), which is headquartered in Patuxent River, Maryland. Holding a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, Pais was a NASA Research Fellow and worked with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. His current Department of Defense work involves his "advanced knowledge of theory, analysis, and modern experimental and computational methods in aerodynamics, along with an understanding of air-vehicle and missile design, especially in the domain of hypersonic power plant and vehicle design." He also has expert knowledge of electrooptics, emerging quantum technologies (laser power generation in particular), high-energy electromagnetic field generation, and the "breakthrough field of room temperature superconductivity, as related to advanced field propulsion."
Suffice it to say, with such a list of research credentials that would make Nikola Tesla proud, Dr. Pais seems well-positioned to carry out groundbreaking work.
A craft using an inertial mass reduction device.
Credit: Salvatore Pais
The patents won't necessarily lead to these technologies ever seeing the light of day. The research has its share of detractors and nonbelievers among other scientists, who think the amount of energy required for the fields described by Pais and his ideas on electromagnetic propulsions are well beyond the scope of current tech and are nearly impossible. Yet investigators at The War Zone found comments from Navy officials that indicate the inventions are being looked at seriously enough, and some tests are taking place.
If you'd like to read through Pais's patents yourself, check them out here.
Laser Augmented Turbojet Propulsion System
Credit: Dr. Salvatore Pais
