Living in a Shoebox Apartment? This Hi-Tech Furniture Could Help

New York City apartments are small.

Like, really small.

To combat this ever-shrinking urban dilemma

a company out of MIT called Ori is building

movable, modular, and get this,

totally automatic furniture for people

living in close quarters.

(upbeat music)

Ori, that's short for Origami,

is like a 21st century update to the Murphy bed.

Instead of pulling a bed from the wall,

you simply have to press a button

or say a command to make the furniture move.

For $10,000 you can get automatic furniture

at the press of a button or by syncing

with an Amazon Echo.

[Alexa] Okay.

A little known feature about Ori?

It also doubles as a great way to get around your apartment.

Hey, Alexa.

Tell Ori to show me my closet.

[Alexa] Okay.

City studios are notoriously tight on space,

but Ori turns your entire apartment into a walk in closet.

Think of Ori like a self driving car, only for your home.

You plug the unit into a regular outlet

and its wheels glide along a track

that's attached to the wall.

A series of small motors are hidden inside

the furniture to make it move left and right.

Ori has three main tricks.

It expands to a walk in closet,

compacts to create a spacious lounge,

and most importantly, it hides messy sheets in mere seconds.

You'll never have to make your bed again.

The furniture doesn't magically increase

your studio square footage, but it does allow

you to make the most of the space you have.

As more people move to cities and apartments get smaller,

robotic furniture like Ori is only gonna

become more common.

Weird?

Maybe a little, but there are some perks, too.

Hey Alexa, tell Ori to bring me my wine.

It's not exactly a robotic bartender,

but it'll do the trick.