Shape-shifting cabin concept revealed
Austria-based cabin materials specialist, F/List, has developed Shapeshifter, a technology concept that showcases aircraft interior prototypes designed to ‘challenge traditional notions and the dimensional limits of the cabin environment’.
The idea behind Shapeshifter is that it brings cabin components to life, with actuators, pneumatic elements and other mechanical systems enabling cabin items to morph and optimise cabin space, deliver multiple functions, and respond to passenger interactions.
The technology is designed to enable the transformation of familiar forms into new shapes, profiles and applications by augmenting available space to extend an individual unit’s functionality. The company believes that smart storage, integrated functionality and seamless transitions ‘exponentially increase design possibilities’. Initial Shapeshifter concepts changing the cabin space include credenzas that transform into a working space, multifunctional lavatory elements, and special dining areas.
The concepts were devised in the F/List Futurelab, an in-house development area where staff are encouraged to challenge conventional cabin design. The staff were asked to work in concert with F/List’s newly launched range of bio-based sustainable materials, liberating fixed characteristics of wood, stone and metal to facilitate the transformation from one form and purpose to another.
“The F/List Shapeshifter concepts set the imagination free and encourage designers to do more with less in the cabin,” said Melanie Prince, head of innovation for F/List. “We anticipate that our customers will welcome the infinite opportunities provided by combining the latest sustainable material product portfolio with our ground-breaking technology. We want to inspire creativity, initiate a paradigm shift and liberate the imagination while providing practical, real solutions simultaneously. The well-stocked toolbox we’ve created will support designers, OEMs and completion centres in making the impossible, possible in the future cabin.”