By Sharael Feist
January 15, 1999
“To see an object change its size before your eyes has a kind of magic.” — Chuck Hoberman
Imagine having a magic wand that would make an object grow or shrink all while keeping its shape — just like in the movie <i> Honey I Shrunk the Kids!</i> Chuck Hoberman can do just that, but he doesn’t use a magic wand, he uses technology and the principles of geometry.
Hoberman is the inventor of the Hoberman sphere, a plastic globe that expands from 9.5
inches to 30 inches across instantly. You may have seen us use a Hoberman Sphere on Call for Help. We like to use it to illustrate the process of “unzipping,” or decompressing Zip files.
Hoberman’s amazing unfolding structures have been used to design retractable stadium domes, tents, and even medical instruments for microsurgery. And, the Hoberman Sphere toy is really catching on with the folks at home.
Hoberman’s unfolding structures are created using a geometric principle that uses hinges to link pieces together. The hinges allow the objects to make a smooth, instantaneous transformation from one size to another– like magic.
If you’d like learn more about Chuck Hoberman’s amazing designs, or order your own Hoberman sphere, you can do it all at the Hoberman Web site.