But what, really, is this strange creature known as "computational origami" and what can it do?  Simply put, it is the application of computers and mathematics to the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. The mathematics is highly complex and the computer coding that accompanies it is as well.  Folding, however, applies to far more than paper, and the products can be even more beautiful than the colorful paper cranes in the photo above and incredibly useful in fields ranging from the study of proteins to the production of automobile airbags.  Proteins, biologists have discovered, need to be folded in very specific ways in order to function properly.  Misfolding of proteins in humans or other living organisms can alter their functions and cause a variety of problems. An airbag needs to be folded in the most efficient manner so that it will fit into a compartment, for example in an automobile's steering wheel, and inflate when needed instantly and without snagging. Computational origami is being applied in these and many other areas.

Interestingly enough, the complex mathematics has also been applied to the art of origami itself and has allowed artists using computers to create some amazing origami constructions.  Physicist Robert Lang, for example, has developed a whole menagerie of origami insects while Fumiaki Kawahata has created origami dinosaurs. The prospects seem limited only by our imagination.

Robert Lang's book, Origami Insects and Their Kin on Amazon.com. ($12.95)

"Cones, Curves, Shells, Towers:  He Made Paper Jump to Life," by Margaret Wertheim, The New York Times (June 22, 2004).  Article about the late Dr. David Huffman, professor of computer science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, one of the pioneers of computational origami.  Huffman also developed the codes that are used today in compressing MP3 files and JPEG images.

Geometric Paper Folding:  Dr. David Huffman (Nov. 1996).  With many illustrations; from Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Erik Demaine's Home Page.  Demaine became a professor at MIT at the age of 21.  He has made many important contributions to computational origami.

Tetsuo Ida's Computational Origami Project.  Ida is a professor in information sciences at the University of Tsukuba in Japan.

Folding Maps - on Ivar Peterson's "Math Trek."  Popular column from the Mathematical Association of America. (January 15, 2001).

"Origami Help for Tech Design," on BBC News Worldwide (Dec. 10, 2003).  "Origami - the Japanese art of folding paper to make models - is being put to a new use - to help engineers design, amongst other things, new telescopes and cars."

"Computational Origami," brief description on Whatis.com, an online encyclopedia.

"Computational Origami at the MIT," on Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends (a blog). January 18, 2003.  Mainly an interview with Erik Demaine.

"Origami Solves Road Map Riddle," by Helen Pearson, Nature (18 February 2002), report from the 2002 AAAS Annual Meeting.

News Release from AT&T, July 24, 1990, announcing that Alan Huang, head of the Optical Computing Research department at AT&T Bell Laboratories, was granted a U.S. patent for a technique he calls "computational origami," which reformats computations and then folds them to fit into various computers. (A rather different application of the term.)

"Computational Origami: Ancient art finds industrial, medical uses,"  by Bob Brewin, Computerworld (May 10, 2004). 

"Unfolding the field of computational origami," by Stephen Strauss, The Globe and Mail (Canada, October 11, 2003).  News article reporting that Erik Demaine had won a MacArthur "genius" award and describing his work and the field of computational origami.