Direct link to video. These are some freaking cool zippers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWig98GVIno

no kidding. it was the last demo in the video, but my first reaction seeing the zippers-instead-tent-poles demo was, "oh, that's going to be huge." weight and "how well does it handle wind?" are concerns, but i could totally see "100% zipper" tents on the market by the end of the year.

They never show the fully packaged version of the tent, though. It looks like even in their non-rigid state they're too rigid to be folded up easily and carelessly into a compact shape.

This might be one of those cases where it solves for problem spaces that aren't being considered yet.

What I mean by that is in the case of soft robotics, it was developments in manufacturing techniques for the inflated leading edge of kitesurfing kites, that unlocked the capabilities to make soft robots more feasible.

Depends on the material that is being used and application. I could see this being highly useful for tents and similar fabric structures. I probably would not build a satellite solar panel structure/frame with them (atomic oxygen is a nasty critter) but for some lightweight terrestrial applications I can see much potential.

i thought so as well; my eyes were beginning to glaze over. the MIT article talking about it is a much better read.