“What if it was curved?”

Spheroidality and Curvature: Replace rectilinear structures with spherical or curved ones.

Strength

Curved structures tend to have great strength, like the arch of a bridge, or creases in the metal door of a car. Geodesic domes are light and strong.

Most beverage bottles and cans have an indented dome at their base. This creates a strong dome structure which resists the pressure of carbonated drinks, champagne, or pressurized nitrogen (introduced as a preservative).

Smoothness

Ball bearings reduce friction. Rounded tracks or trajectories allow smoother transitions than angular jerks.

Ergonomics

Seats, staplers, headphones all benefit from rounded shapes to make the objects easier and more pleasurable for people to interact with than if they were hard-edged.

More examples

As I stumble across real world examples of this Inventive Principle in action I add them here.

Your turn

What problems do you face that this inventive principle could help solve? Have you used this principle before?