Umbrellas are extremely useful objects. They keep you dry when it is raining and in the summer, umbrellas can protect you from the sun. Umbrellas come in a myriad of sizes and colors, but the design of a steel-ribbed umbrella hasn’t really changed since the 1850s when it was invented.
Afterall, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But that is not entirely the case. Umbrellas come with a design flaw, reported Fast Company, and that makes them unstable in wind. A big gust of wind can destroy the umbrella’s steel cage rendering it unusable. But now there is a new frameless umbrella that works by folding like Japanese origami.
The Ori Umbrella
This newly designed Ori umbrella does away with the unstable frame (over 1.2 billion broken umbrellas are discarded every year) and uses a laminate composite canopy that fits into a 3.5-centimeter cylinder that is smaller than even the most mini-style umbrellas, according to the company website. The design team included MIT engineers and origami experts that usually worked in industries that require advanced structures, including satellites.
Fast Company reported that the team used an origami technique that was invented by Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura in 1970, called Miura-ori. This allows for a compact fold and has been used in satellites. When opened, the canopy feels solid and is wind resistant unlike a typical umbrella.
“Everyone owns one, yet the umbrella is a forgotten object, stuck in the past. We wanted to turn it into a modern device: smart, intentional, premium, and engineered like a modern device,” Ori founder Modestas Balcytis told Fast Company.
The Smart Umbrella
In addition to the new structural advances, Ori incorporated some digital features into the canopy, according to DesignBoom. A built-in display monitors air-quality readings, weather, and customized color palettes. There is also an easy one-tap system to open and close the Ori.
All of these interactive features introduce a smart interface layer to the umbrella. This next generation high-tech product is not your great-grandfather’s umbrella and it’s not available in drugstores. The first editions are planned for later in 2026.
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