Fold Till You Drop

There's an origami convention convention underway in Japan this weekend, with some truly impressive pieces on display. There's an AP story, but words don't do it justice. See the personal site of one of the professional paper-folders, or photos taken at a previous convention, or just discover the essence of origami.

Stress Sheep

[barks]

As a result from stress and aggrevation I've apparently made a couple of origami sheep while in school.

And I thought they were just cruppled up pieces of paper.

Re:Stress Sheep

[Anonymous Coward]

And I thought they were just cruppled up pieces of paper.

what you created was an origami boulder [maximonline.com] young grasshopper

Re:Stress Sheep

[eclectus]

Maxim article is just rip-off of artist's real work [origamiboulder.com], dum-dums. You go buy origami boulder now!

Re:Stress Sheep

[DJ_Perl]

Why make an Origami Boulder, when you can buy one from a famous artiste [origamiboulder.com]?
When it comes to polygons/square inch, his foldings outdo traditional Origami by orders of magnitude. The result is decidedly organic looking.

Re:Stress Sheep

[PsiPsiStar]

As a result from stress and aggrevation I've apparently made a couple of origami sheep while in school.

How many sheep did you make?

Serta. We make the world's best mattress.

[tepples]

By asking barks to count the sheep, are you trying to put barks to sleep?

Yup

[PsiPsiStar]

Yer on to me. ;)

Re:Stress Sheep

[barks]

How the flock [umn.edu] would I know?

So much folding...

[phita23]

So much folding that it even makes SETI jealous!

Re:So much folding...

[airbie]

don't you mean protein folding? seti is for ET.

Warning

[shopi]

Don't click next on the dragon paper photo.

please.

ugh

Re:Warning

[MikeXpop]

Either they're from Brazil, or truth in advertising is getting pretty strict!

(check out the girl on the right's top if you don't get it)

Re:Warning

[tonyr60]

Why do I have the feeling that those two do not have /. accounts?

Re:Warning

[sqrt(2)]

And another. [yahoo.com]

Re:Warning

[Mad_Rain]

Please, next time, just link to the next picture! [yahoo.com]

wow. :) Yay volleyball!

Another yahoo gem

[Hoi Polloi]

I assumed I was going to see a series of origami photos until I clicked next and got this. Maybe this was origami after all?

Guy on bike [yahoo.com]

Re:Warning

[ideatrack]

But do click next after that one. Eh boys? Yeeeah. They may have lost, but I've won.

Re:Warning

[MikeXpop]

Yahoo News slideshow does this a lot. Basically they have a blurb they want to cover, but no picture. So they take a semi-related picture, post a caption, and then mention the blurb right after it. Think about it, is Kerry riding a bike newsworthy in the first place?

Re:Warning

[drinkypoo]

It's at least as newsworthy as Dubya falling off a segway.

Re:Warning

[agentforsythe]

"We have more than once seen our son be more dead than alive and the only thing that helped him [w]as praying."

No, the only thing that helped you was praying.

Re:Warning

[smooth wombat]

Stop it. Just stop it. There has never been one documented case where praying, and praying alone, has ever done anything for anyone. Never. If praying actually worked then at least one of those people who refuse to get medical attention for themselves or their children would have had a success. It's never happened. In every case the child has died when a medical condition exists (at least those that were life threatening).

In every circumstance where someone thought praying helped it was found that th

Re:Warning

[lcsjk]

Well, I was praying for peace of mind!

Re:Warning

[drinkypoo]

While I agree with you, and I sneer at the comment you replied to as much as you do, there is no scientific proof that god doesn't exist. Your blind faith that there is no god is as foolish as their blind faith that there is. Who knows, maybe their prayers really are what tipped the balance. If we find out tomorrow that yahweh really is "up there" and listening to prayers, and answering them occasionally, you're going to feel like a right jackass. The odds are pretty damned slim, but I'd say they're nonzer

the profession

[iamdrscience]

I know what you're all thinking: "Professional paper-folders? How can that be?". Well actually, it's not too difficult for a talented paper-folder to make a decent living touring the competitive oragami circuits and getting endorsement deals with paper companies and such. They're really a lot like pro skateboarders or Nascar drivers, except they get more paper cuts.

Re:the profession

[gordlea]

...and less women.

Re:the profession

[rf0]

Origami Condoms were never that effective anyway

Rus

Re:the profession

[Anonymous Coward]

FEWER women, not less.

Origami on Steroids

[Alien54]

Everything you could care to know [langorigami.com], including the application of origami to space telescopes.

we are not worthy

Folding?

[ragingsamster]

You know you spend too much time online when you immediately think of "@home" whenever anyone mentions folding

someone said fold......

[Roskolnikov]

I thought this was another folding@home screensaver;

Still this bodes well for the paper industry, long offices are truly paperless people will find uses for this dangerous (read papercut) weapon.

Amazing folding

[TimeTrip]

Immpressive paper folding! Awesome, but did you know they can also fold SHIRTS impressively?

Check out the amazing action here [howtofoldashirt.net]

btw.. i'm not sure if the woman in the video is japanese, but its close enough.. right?? ;)

+5, In-fucking-formative

[Anonymous Coward]

That woman works magic. It's that simple

Re:+5, In-fucking-formative

[Anonymous Coward]

It's like a Jedi mind trick for shirts.

Re:Amazing folding

[Bastian]

I'm going to go to the mall right now and show up all those weenie Gap employees with their weenie folding boards.

Robotic origami folding

[foobsr]

Robots can do it too [cmu.edu]!

CC.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Amazing folding

[infinite9]

Next time you're in Japan, go to a store and buy a gift for someone, then ask the store to wrap it for you, then watch in amazment. They place the box diagonally on a sheet of wrapping paper (one size fits all), then they simply roll up the box and seal it with one piece of tape. It takes about three or four seconds. I watched it dozens of times and I still can't do it.

That blows my mind

[t0rc]

I watched the video like 10 times. I still can't believe it. I'm afraid to try it myself. Can it really be that easy??

Re:That blows my mind

[Jugalator]

Yes, I know even some geeks that have done it. :-)

I think I'll try it out later today. :D

Re:That blows my mind

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried unsuccessfully for about 5 times before I read the instructions [google.com]. And yes, it really is that easy.

Re:That blows my mind

[Jugalator]

I tried unsuccessfully for about 5 times before I read the instructions. And yes, it really is that easy.

OMG! Don't trust that translation, it was written by an evil Microsoft MVP!

Re:Amazing folding

[Anonymous Coward]

There is an extended version on the net somewhere that shows more folding. The problem with this folding technique is that while the front of the shirt looks folded, the way it's folded is half-assed. The traditional slow way of folding tucks both sleeves in then folds the bottom part up. Hers folds one sleeve in then tucks, tucks the bottom part up, then the other sleeve gets folded over the bottom. This makes for a crappy fold on the reverse end.

Re:Amazing folding

[mst76]

For the hordes of us who don't understand Japanese, here's a Chinese version [mit.edu]. Seriously though, this version is much longer and somewhat easier to follow.

Re:Amazing folding

[aurb]

Where is the Vietnamese version for those of us who don't understand Chinese nor Japanese?

Re:Amazing folding

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I understand, after staring at it for ages. The trick is to pinch the nipple firmly, and keep hold of it!

Re:Amazing folding

[CvD]

YES! Awesome. Very impressive. Thank you.

Gonna do this now. Took a bit of practice but I can do it easily now.

Pepakura

[iamdrscience]

Okay, this isn't really oragami, but it involves building stuff out of paper and it's really nerdy and it's really cool. There's a program called Pepakura [e-cardmodel.com] that I discovered a while ago that can take any 3D model and make a sheet that you can print out, cut out and fold to make a real-life 3d version of your model. I'm not great with 3D modelling so I couldn't do all that much with it, but it was still pretty fun. IIRC they have a version that's free to download so you can play around with it. Also, as an added bonus their English website is absolutely chock full of bad English translations!

Re:Pepakura

[danamania]

While origami where no cuts happen (is that the only form that's truly 'origami'? I'm not sure) is more impressive, you reminded me of this site [theapplecollection.com] with paper cut out models of Apple gear.

Scrolling down to some of the constructed models shows how cool they can look :)

Re:Pepakura

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually in the very beginning origami did allow for cuts, but eventually evolved into an artform where only folding and such was allowed.

Re:Pepakura

[martinthebrit]

There was an interesting paper at SIGGRAPH this year on the same topic. Again, not origami as cuts are involved, but impressive non the less, enabling smooth surfaces to be modelled in paper.

http://www.den.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mitani [u-tokyo.ac.jp]
http://www.den.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~suzuki [u-tokyo.ac.jp]

Working Paper Weapons

[plagioclase]

Staying with the made-from-folded-paper-but-not-oragami tangent, here [demon.co.uk] are plans for a working paper trebuchet.

I made one myself, it works pretty well.

From an artistic stance

[dj_cel]

This is simply awesome, I look at some of these peices and they resemble 3d models in the sense of polygon modeling. My hats off to those who can do this, because doing it even in the computer is quite a difficult task.

Re:From an artistic stance

[Lord Omlette]

This is simply awesome, I look at some of these peices and they resemble 3d models in the sense of polygon modeling

Funny you should mention that, someone else obviously thought the same thing:

Making Papercraft Toys From Meshes Using Strip-Based Approximate Unfolding

Jun Mitani
Hiromasa Suzuki
The University of Tokyo
mitani (at) cim.pe.u-tokyo.ac.jp

(presented @ SIGGRAPH '04)

Watch now on "Pay-per-view"

[Charles Dodgeson]

I can't even take the credit (blame) for this terrible pun. But I can't recall who to attribute it to.

Re:Watch now on "Pay-per-view"

[PsiPsiStar]

Watch now on "Pay-per-view"

The Lucky Cow comic strip had a joke along these lines.

Wow, L33t sk1lz

[Johnno74]

Check out the "ball" [origami.as]

From the artist's caption:
"This ball is crumpled from a single uncut square. I suggested that they could crumple a ball themselves, but they wanted to defer to "the artist." Who am I to argue?"

Re:Wow, L33t sk1lz

[peterprior]

"Diagrams: This model is not diagrammed. If it is one of mine, I have not had the time to draw diagrams. In other words, instructions are not available.

Dammit.

Amazing

[qmchenry]

These are quite impressive. In clicking around, I happened on this database [origamidatabase.com] of origami containing references to more than 23k models.

Re: Origami Database

[AEton]

You know you've been Slashdotted when.

Database Stats
Total Models: 23521
Total Creators: 1898
Last Search: Model Name: penis
Total Searches to Date: 147243
(google cache from two days ago: 146388)

Makes ya wonder....

[Prod_Deity]

How many of these people are Gentoo users that are tying to pick up a hobby as they're compiling.

But do they run Linux?

[SYFer]

Apparently so. [origami.gr.jp]

Re:But do they run Linux?

[sqrt(2)]

Only in japa...oh, never mind.

In a strange coincidence...

[Sailor Coruscant]

I'd actually just started folding a crane while absent-mindedly hitting refresh on slashdot.
It has to be the first origami I've done in a month, and I was thinking of looking up some new things to attempt.
Of course, my favourite is still Yoda [happymagpie.com] (Instructions [pajarita.org], pdf).

kinda off topic but try this

[Rooked_One]

try to fold a peice of paper over 7 times

It doesn't matter how thin the paper, or how big the sheet, you just can't do it. Have fun proving me wrong :)

Re:kinda off topic but try this

[Vo0k]

Tricky :)
Just fold it in harmonica instead in a block ;)

A different task: Take a 1"x1" piece of paper and rip a hole in it so you could put your head through it without ripping it apart (so it remains a loop around that hole)

(the trick is to rip a zig-zag pattern so it stretches into a long tape)

Put whose SD head through it?

[tepples]

Take a 1"x1" piece of paper and rip a hole in it so you could put your head through it without ripping it apart

First thing I thought of is that it'd be a lot harder to pull that off in chibi mode [animenewsnetwork.com]. Pity the poor Precious Moments kids [preciousmoments.com] who are unable to snap out of their super-deformity.

Re:kinda off topic but try this

[Order]

try to fold a peice of paper over 7 times

It doesn't matter how thin the paper, or how big the sheet, you just can't do it. Have fun proving me wrong :)

Actually, proving you wrong is very easy. Here's your proof! [osb.net]
On that page you can see a photo of a piece of paper folded 11 times, and a discussion of all the math and physics involved.

Re:kinda off topic but try this

[WiseWeasel]

Hahaaaaaa, I folded a square of toilet paper eight times, though it looked somewhat like a ball after that last one...

Re:kinda off topic but try this

[Tony-A]

8 times, easily.
E-sized drafting paper.
Not that thin either.

Origami Boulder

[krahd]

None of them can compete with the origami boulder! [origamiboulder.com]
:)

--krahd

Oragami boulder

[nsayer]

I am rather good at making an oragami boulder. I get to practice almost daily given how much junk mail arrives in my mailbox 6 days a week.

How Timely

[l0ungeb0y]

Just got through watching my Blade Runner DVD again.
Remember the origami unicorn? Fold your own [linkclub.or.jp].

Re:How Timely

[Vo0k]

Damn the author for not providing any standard Origami notation. WTF happens between step 6 and 9???

Fold for gold

[Anonymous Coward]

So why isn't this an Olympic sport? It has all the requirements - drama (is it another freaking crane?), risk of serious injury (paper cuts), and obviously a worldwide following - but most importantly I might even be able to win a medal.

Yes, but to qualify as an Olympic sport....

[DrYak]

...but do they have doping products in paper folding ?

Eye Candy

[oz_ko]

Don't say I don't do anything for you boys.
On the yahoo site link [yahoo.com], hit the next button for some Olympic Eye Candy ;)

Re:Eye Candy

[yukonalex]

Oh, I didn't realize that the "Bubble Baba Challenge" was an Olympic event.

Terrific origami book

[haruchai]

Peter Engel's book, Folding the Universe, is the most interesting book on origami that I've ever read. The first half of the book is almost like a
Godel, Escher, Bach for Origami. The models are simply terrific but most of them are ONLY for advanced folders.

More info...

[dmayle]

I'm a paper folder, and I've got to say, right now is a really exciting time for folders. I'm a member of Origami USA [origami-usa.org] which is an organization that, despite it's name, is open to people from all over the world. Every year there's a convention held in New York at the end of June where about 1000 people come together to learn new models, to socialize. and to have fun.

I said it's an exciting time, and that's because for the first time, folders are really starting to explore the bounds of the craft. You've got people like Robert Lang [langorigami.com] who have been exploring the mathematics and geometry behind origami, and teaching the secrets of creation to others.

You've got people like my friend, Daniel Robinson [origami.as], who take animals, insects, etc. of a particular species, and instead of trying to create a generic representation, try to get the model to be exact, right down to the length and number of feelers on a frilled longhorn beetle [origami.as], for example.

And as much as you might not believe it, there are some really hot origami chicks [though they are for the most part drowned out by the rest... ;) ]

Re:More info...

[Mal-2]

And as much as you might not believe it, there are some really hot origami chicks

How I adore thee,
my origami chick, but
you're shredding my wang.

Mal-2

Moebius Strip With Ants

[antdude]

See here [t-online.de]. :)

Erm...

[Mr. Gus]

Lord, it seems like slashdot'll post a story about John Romero and Linux Torvalds teaming up on a Linux toaster, and somebody will feel like chiming in "...is this really news for nerds? I mean, it's about toast!". But post an ORIGAMI CONVENTION on the FRONT PAGE and everybody's just like "Origami...? Cool!".

Not really complaining, but it's kinda' weird.

origami pr0n

[martin-boundary]

I'm sorry, but this is slashdot. If I don't link [zork.net] to it, someone else will ;-)

For the rest of us

[wombatmobile]

File > Print, cut and fold... Yamaha's excellent PaperCraft [yamaha-motor.co.jp] models are challenging but require no great origami expertise. The results are truly spectacular and will delight your kids or your friends.

Oh, and PaperCraft is free.

Re:For the rest of us

[MikeyToo]

Paper models, or card models, started at about the same time as origami but isn't as well known now. They were quite popular in the 20's and 30's and during the war when plastic was scarce.

Card models have made a comeback due to computers and the internet. It is now possible to download a model and print as many copies as you like. Very handy for mistakes. Just print a new part.

Most people think of card models as the simple "place tab 'a' into slot 'b'" kind of thing that you find on a cereal box. Th

Papercraft paper at SIGGRAPH

[pixelphsr]

It's funny that this topic came up on the heels of a paper at SIGGRAPH that looked at generating Papercraft models from 3D meshes. http://www.den.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mitani/docs/si ggraph04_mitani.pdf [u-tokyo.ac.jp] (Sorry, I can't seem to make the whole URL disappear into a description.)

origami convention convention underway....

[Anonymous Coward]

There's an origami convention convention underway, brought to you by the Redundancy Department of Redundancy :)

More Photos

[Ranger Rick]

My girlfriend went to the convention with a friend of hers (who was actually teaching there).

There's some more pictures of some of the models that were on display here [catinakilt.com], some of them are really quite amazing (I especially like the white dragon with all the pleats for scales, impressive...)

I'm suprised at how much press this has been getting, it's kind of nice, since I couldn't go with her I can at least hear about it some. :)

For the serious geek: Trek Origami

[Xtifr]

Here's a Sci-Fi Channel review of a book of Star Trek Origami [scifi.com]. My brother owns this book (he's an origami geek); it's definitely cool.

Better image link...

[wikdwarlock]

Following the original posters link [yahoo.com] a bit further leads to another, even more impressive folded work of art [yahoo.com]. Who knew Brazil did origami as well?

Got disenchanted w/origami as a kid

[Anonymous Coward]

Once I learned that most "advanced" pieces involved cutting, combining and reshaping paper, I became totally unimpressed.

I still think the origami you can make from one piece of tissue paper and no cutting are cool, but no "pro" origami seem to qualify.

Origami Convention Convention?

[spikefruit]

Have we really gotten to a point where we must have conventions about conventions?

Re:

[account_deleted]

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