Shapes of the Future

IN A CORNER of the National Design Centre sits a 'creature' from outer space. It has five long black arms mounted on a dome, each with three fingers. Once in a while, the arms come alive, moving in dance-like motions, almost reaching out to touch the visitor. Its name is Flagella, a machine created by Japanese design engineer Shunji Yamanaka who is also a professor at the University of Tokyo.

His Yamanaka Laboratory has been experimenting on a machine capable of movement, and has so far managed something between natural and artificial motion. Flagella, although made of hard plastic, moves like a sinewy creature, thanks to a motor that repeatedly rotates and cou…