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For an object we carry, curse, and replace with alarming regularity, the umbrella has barely evolved. Too small, too flimsy, or simply not cut out for bad weather, most designs fail in familiar ways. Ori wants to change that.
Built by a new hardware startup led by MIT-trained engineers and world-class origami specialists, Ori is being billed as the world’s first frameless umbrella. No ribs. No hinges. No snapped metal skeleton rattling in the wind or the bin. Just a single origami-engineered canopy that becomes its own structure.
At full size, Ori opens into a one-metre dome. Closed, it compresses into a slim 3.5 × 23 centimetre cylinder that slips easily into a bag or coat pocket. The trick is a patented Miura-based folding architecture, drawn from the same family of deployment systems used in aerospace and robotics. Instead of relying on fragile spokes, the canopy itself carries tension, stiffness, and shape through precision crease patterns and layered composite materials.
In the same way that origami can add rigidity to a piece of paper, Ori uses folding as structure, turning crease geometry into a load-bearing system.
The umbrella opens with a single motion and resists the kinds of wind gusts that usually spell the end for traditional designs. A reinforced tension ring and laminated composite canopy create a self-supporting dome, finished with a nano-coating that repels water instantly and blocks harmful UV. Ori claims the structure has been tested for 400–500 folding cycles, far beyond the lifespan of most rib-based umbrellas.
What really separates Ori from your everyday carry is its handle. Built into the grip is a small OLED display that turns the umbrella into a quiet personal device. Depending on how you set it up, it can display air-quality data via AirSense, adjust visual themes based on the weather or your mood, and respond to one-tap open and close commands via Smart Touch.
The thinking behind this reinvention starts with an uncomfortable statistic. More than 1.2 billion umbrellas end up in landfills every year, largely because their basic design has remained unchanged for generations. Ori’s team began with a different question: what if the canopy itself became the structure? Years of research into aerospace-grade folding lines, composite layering, and tension-locking systems followed, with four patents filed across the folding system, locking mechanism, and internal core.
Ori is currently available to reserve as a Founder Edition for US$249.99, with shipping planned for 2026 between Q2 and Q4. Early supporters receive priority production and a metal founder card with a unique serial number.
For something we’ve spent decades buying cheaply and throwing away, Ori finally asks the important question: what happens when an umbrella is designed to last? Fewer broken spokes, fewer replacements, and fewer trips to the bin tend to follow.
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