All text has been taken from the Smithsonian site

Johannes Overvelde & a team at Harvard University have ‘borrowed bits from the Hoberman Sphere and the origami-based concept of snapology, where interlocking strips of paper snap together to create rigid structures. ..(They) have created what they call a metamaterial: an expandable structure that can be used on its own, or as a building block to create other structures. The attenuated cubes, which have three degrees of articulation, are made of thin polymer sheets that fold flat but can also pop up in a variety of different ways, just like (Chuck Hoberman’s) Hoberman Sphere. By attaching it to a pneumatic hose, a user can inflate a cube to create a bigger 3D structure. Overvelde says the material has numerous applications, from nano-scale stents that can be inserted into arteries and then expanded, to walls, which would fold open and ventilate your house when it gets hot.’

‘For Overvelde, flexibility is the most important part of the concept. He likes to think of the cubes as a material, instead of just a structure unto themselves, because he thinks a lot of the value of the discovery comes from the many different ways they can be built.’

‘On the other side, you think about architectural application. If you made it responsive to heat, you could make a wall of this structure that opens up and breathes. You could make a structure that responds to water, so when it rains, it automatically closes up.’

You can also catchup on this technology and an interview with Johannes Overvelde at  https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/researchers-design-versatile-shapeshifting-material  The 2 images above have been taken from this site.