The MIT spinout Ori attracted a lot of attention when it unveiled its shapeshifting furniture prototypes in 2014. But after the founders left MIT, they faced a number of daunting challenges. Where would they find the space to build and demo their apartment-scale products? How would they get access to the machines and equipment necessary for prototyping? How would they decide on the control systems and software to run with their new furniture? Did anyone care about its innovations? Ori, which signed a global agreement with Ikea in 2019, got…
