Computational origami

While some view origami strictly as an art form, Erik Demaine finds great theoretical challenges in the ancient Japanese practice. In MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science, he is exploring how it might yield new insights into diverse areas such as protein folding, gift wrapping and the deployment of automobile airbags. Welcome to the arcane realm of computational geometry, in which the 21-year-old Demaine is one of the youngest and most accomplished practitioners. He also has a passion for puzzles of all kinds, developed during a childhood spent partly on the road with his father – a glass-blower, goldsmith, silversmith and puzzle maker.…