They may only be a notion in some markets, but there’s no doubt micro apartments and tiny houses are an important part of our dense urban future. In anticipation of that new reality, the Boston-based “robotic interior” company Ori has released a robotic walk-in Pocket Closet that opens to allow access when you need it, and morphs into an entertainment unit when you don’t. The closet system is available direct to consumers and is operated through voice control units like Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
Photography: Courtesy Ori Collection
Other automated furniture components are available to professionals such as developers and architects, including the Ori Studio Suite that turns a studio apartment into a bedroom, office, living room, and walk-in closet via voice commands. The unit sells for about $10,000. In the pipeline for 2019 is the Ori Cloud Bed that lowers from the ceiling over an existing module of sofa and coffee table.
Ori has its origins in Kent Larson’s MIT Media Lab and was founded by MIT graduate Hasier Larrea.