ABSTRACT
This chapter uses design as a critical lens, in which innovation methods, material-technology aspects and organizational strategies form a coherent set of design activities that put shape memory materials (SMMs, such as Shape Memory Polyurethane [SMPU]) in a broader context. Since 2002, Noumenon has collaborated with different institutes and industries to shift the boundaries of SMMs to larger shape changes and bigger dimensions. The material and processing cost of shape memory polymers (SMPs) is much lower. In addition, SMP are much lighter and have much higher transformation rates than SMAs and can be triggered by UV light or chemicals. Despite these advantages, SMPs are limited in their applicability by their very low recovery forces, which unable to overcome earth’s gravity in recovering their permanent shape. Self-reconfigurable furniture can open up a new perspective; the chemical mechanism of the material can provide a set of keys for new and unfamiliar character for designing smart.
