US20230121977A1

US20230121977A1 - System and method for a voxel based furniture system

Info

Publication number: US20230121977A1
Application number: US17/968,376
Authority: US
Inventors: Benjamin Jenett
Original assignee: Discrete Lattice Industries LLC
Current assignee: Discrete Lattice Industries LLC
Priority date: 2021-10-18
Filing date: 2022-10-18
Publication date: 2023-04-20

Abstract

A cellular furniture construction system that includes: a set of voxels, that form a lattice providing the shape and structure of the furniture construction, wherein regions of the furniture construction comprise distinct three-dimensional lattice arrangements of different types of voxels, providing distinct stress/strain properties to the regions; wherein each voxel comprises: a voxel type, defined by the stress and strain property of the voxel, and a discrete cellular three-dimensional structure, enabled to connect with other voxels along any one of the voxel interface surfaces. The system functions as a lightweight, modular, furniture construction system, wherein the system leverages arrangements of different voxel types to construct a furniture structure with desired stress/strain properties to regions of the structure.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/257,058, filed on Oct. 18, 2021, which is incorporated in its entirety by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the field of furniture technology, and more specifically to a new and useful system and method for voxel-based furniture systems.

BACKGROUND

Furniture production is an ancient field that has been around since the beginning of civilization. Although it has been around for so long, there are severe limitations to what people can purchase. Currently there are few avenues for the purchase of new furniture. Generally, either a person purchases high-end furniture; or the person purchases generic low-end furniture. The former comes at exorbitant costs, that may or may not be customized, while the latter typically comes with few or no customizability options at all. Additionally, recent material shortages caused by supply chain disruptions have led to significant delays in production and sales of furniture products. Therefore, having an alternative material solution to fulfill the performance requirements of furniture is of value.
Thus, there is a need in the field of furniture manufacturing to create a new and useful system and method for affordable and customizable furniture construction. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an example mattress furniture construct system.

FIG. 2 are schematics of other example furniture construct systems.

FIG. 3 is an example of different furniture construct implementations.

FIG. 4 is an example mattress furniture construct system with additional mattress components.

FIG. 5 is an illustration for an example chair system covering.

FIG. 6 is an illustration for an example couch system covering.

FIG. 7 is a schematic example of a single voxel breakdown.

FIG. 8 is a schematic of an inter-voxel connection.

FIG. 9 is a schematic of the surface interface for different voxel types.

FIG. 10 is an example prototype for the connection between four hyperelastic voxels.

FIG. 11 is a continuum description of different voxel types.

FIG. 12 is table of the approximate stiffness of each voxel type.

FIG. 13 is the stress/strain graph representation of the rigid voxel type.

FIG. 14 is a stress/strain graph representation of an example rigid voxel.

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of the example rigid voxel.

FIG. 16 is the stress/strain graph representation of the compliant voxel type.

FIG. 17 is a stress/strain graph representation of an example compliant voxel.

FIG. 18 is a schematic representation of the example compliant voxel.

FIG. 19 is the stress/strain graph representation of the hyperelastic voxel type.

FIG. 20 is a stress/strain graph representation of an example hyperelastic voxel.

FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of the example hyperelastic voxel.

FIG. 22 is a schematic representation of construction of the hyperelastic voxel from a Kelvin lattice.

FIG. 23 is a 2D lattice of mixed voxel types.

FIGS. 24 and 25 are a 2D lattice cross-section of an example mattress constructed of mixed voxel types.

FIG. 26 is a chart of different zones of compliance.

FIG. 27 is a comparison of example mattress systems with and without interior zones of compliance.

FIG. 28 is a schematic of z-direction customizability of zones of compliance for a mattress.

FIG. 29 is a schematic of user-based customizability of the system.

FIG. 30 is a schematic of positional customizability of an example mattress system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments but rather to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.

1. Overview

A system for a modular furniture construct that comprises a set of voxels that form a lattice providing the shape and structure of the furniture construct. Each voxel comprises a unit volume, a discrete three-dimensional structure enabled to connect with other voxels. Additionally, each voxel has a voxel type, defined by the stress/strain properties of the voxel. This is governed by the material properties and the geometry of the voxel, which includes voxel pitch, and beam cross section and geometric design. Regions of the furniture construct may have distinct zones of compliance by the use of different arrangements of voxel types. The system functions as a lightweight, modular, furniture construct, wherein the system leverages arrangements of different voxel types to construct highly customizable furniture with varying levels of compliance.
The system and method may provide a number of potential benefits. The system and method are not limited to always providing such benefits and are presented only as exemplary representations for how the system and method may be put to use. The list of benefits is not intended to be exhaustive and other benefits may additionally or alternatively exist.
One potential benefit of the system is to provide lightweight furniture. As voxels constructs are relatively lightweight lattice structures, furniture constructs of the system may be significantly lighter than furniture produced through more traditional means.
Another potential benefit of a voxel based furniture construct is that furniture products are cheaper. As voxels may be easily and cheaply produced, the cost of production and material cost of a voxel based furniture product would be potentially much cheaper than other types of furniture.
Through the use of different types of voxels, the system also provides a highly customizable furniture construct. Voxel based furniture constructs may be easily modified to provide different levels of compliance, providing spatial customizability dependent on the size and shape of a person in addition to how they wish to use the furniture (e.g., a mattress furniture construct customized for a side sleeper vs. a back sleeper).

2. System

As shown in FIG. 1 , a cellular furniture construction system includes: a set of voxels, that form a lattice providing the shape and structure of the furniture construction, wherein regions of the furniture construction comprise distinct three-dimensional lattice arrangements of different types of voxels, providing distinct stress/strain properties to the regions; wherein each voxel comprises: a voxel type, defined by the stress and strain property of the voxel, and a discrete cellular three-dimensional structure, enabled to connect with other voxels along any one of the voxel interface surfaces. The system functions as a lightweight, modular, furniture construction system, wherein the system leverages arrangements of different voxel types to construct a furniture structure with desired stress/strain properties to regions of the structure. As shown in the example systems of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the furniture construction system may be any general piece of furniture, such as mattresses, beds, chairs, couches, tables, desks, drawers, dressers, closets, etc. As shown in FIG. 3 , the specific arrangement of the set of voxels may provide different implementations of the furniture construct system.
Dependent on implementation, the system may further include additional “non-voxel” based components. That is, other components may be used in conjunction with the set of voxels. These non-voxel components may function to complement and/or improve the functionality of the furniture construction system. For example, a mattress furniture construct may further include a mattress cover, a foam or other type of cushioning layer, a flame retardant covering/coating, etc. Other additional components that may be included as part of the furniture construction system include drawers (e.g., for dressers), hinges (e.g., for opening doors), covers (e.g., a leather couch cover), extra cushioning, etc. FIG. 4 shows one example mattress furniture construct that further includes: a knitted fabric cover with a zipper, a fire retardant knit layer, and a thin low density foam layer.
As a covering is generally necessary for the functionality of many furniture constructs, many variations include a furniture covering. Depending on implementation, the furniture covering may be customized. Alternatively, the furniture covering may have a simplified single piece format as shown in FIG. 5 (for a chair) and FIG. 6 (for a couch). This simplified format may enable easy cleaning of the furniture construct, and significantly improve the ease of moving around the furniture construct (since the voxel portion of the furniture construct is typically fairly light).
The system may include a set of voxels. The set of voxels function as the primary structure of the furniture construct, providing the support and shape of the construct. That is, the set of voxels comprises individual voxels, connected together to form a three-dimensional lattice. Through implementation of specific arrangements of different types of voxels (i.e., voxel type) within the lattice, the set of voxels may provide specific mechanical properties both locally (to specific regions of the furniture construct and globally (to the entire furniture construct). For the purposes of application in furniture, these properties can be characterized through standardized test procedures, as described by ASTM F1566 “Standard Test Methods for Evaluation of Innersprings, Boxsprings, Mattresses or Mattress Sets”, which covers firmness, durability, impact, and firmness retention, and ASTM D3574 “Standard Test Methods for Flexible Cellular Materials-Slab, Bonded, and Molded Urethane Foams”, which covers Indentation Force Deflection, Tensile Strength, Tear resistance, Air Flow, Resilience, Dynamic Fatigue, and Hysteresis Loss.
Each voxel, from the set of voxels, has a voxel type and a discrete three-dimensional structure enabled to connect with other voxels along any one of its interface surfaces. That is, each voxel has: a voxel type, defined by the voxel mechanical properties (including but not limited to effective density, effective tensile and compressive modulus of elasticity and strength, shear stiffness and strength, and Poisson’s ratio); a three-dimensional volume; and interface surfaces, to connect to other voxels. As used herein, a voxel refers to a unit cell, which may be combined with other voxels to form the three-dimensional lattice of the furniture construct.
The system may be constructed, or assembled, in different ways dependent on the method of voxel construction. For example: each voxel/cell may be constructed separately and then combined together; subsets of voxels/cells may be constructed and then combined together; or the all voxels/cells may be constructed together as the set of voxels. In some variations, voxels may be constructed using injection molding. In some injection molding examples, voxels may be constructed as described in: U.S. Pat. Application Publication No. US 2021/0146581A1, published on May 20, 2021, titled “Method for discrete assembly of cuboctahedron lattice materials”, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by this reference. Alternatively, voxels may be constructed using other methods, such as welding, 3D printing, wire weaving, etc.
Each voxel may comprise beams and connecting joints (that enable inter-voxel and intra-voxel connections) that form the voxel three-dimensional structure. Generally, the shape of the three-dimensional structure may be any space-filling polyhedra. For example, each voxel may be cube shaped. In another example, each voxel may be a hexagonal prism (e.g., an octahedra). In another example, each voxel may be a tetrakaidecahedron (e.g., Kelvin Cell). In many variations, each voxel may be a cuboctahedron, as described in: US Patent Application Publication No. US 2022/0290570A1, published on Sep. 15, 2022, titled “Discrete macroscopic metamaterial systems”, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by this reference.
In many variations, each voxel comprises edges and connecting joints. As shown in one FIG. 7 , one example voxel is made up of six square-shaped face parts joined at the corners. Alternative methods for producing a similar voxel include decomposition into different part types (i.e.: triangles), or net-shape manufacturing of the entire voxel (i.e.: injection molding), but this is more expensive and difficult than the simple part decomposition as shown.
Connecting joints may comprise intra-connecting joints and inter-connecting joints. Intra-connecting joints (or voxel-corner joints) may function to connect edge pieces of a single voxel, whereas inter-connecting joints (or neighbor joints) may function to connect adjacent voxels, as shown in FIG. 8 . In some variations, voxels may only have one type of joint (e.g., inter-connecting joints), or no joints at all. In these implementations, the voxel may be created as a single process (e.g., by 3d printing), such that an entire voxel, or the entire furniture construct comprises a single body. Alternatively, in the same fashion, groups of voxels may be constructed as a single body of the furniture construct thereby requiring the system to have fewer joints than the initial “single-voxel” example.
In voxel variations that do include joints, the system may further include additional component(s) and/or processes to connect inter-connecting and intra-connecting joints. Joint connectors may be permanent or reversible. Any component and or method compatible with the voxel may be incorporated for joint connections. Some examples of methods/components for implementing permanent joint connections include: welding and gluing joints together. Some examples of methods/components for implementing reversible joint connections include bolting and riveting joints together.
The space-filling polyhedra shape of the voxel may define a unit volume. The unit volume for each voxel may be set by implementation, wherein each voxel from the set of voxels will have the same unit volume (i.e., cell size). The unit volume (or base unit) topology may define joint connectivity and inform lattice behavior (e.g., bending, compressing, stretching, etc.). One example voxel has a pitch length (i.e., volumetric bounding cube side length) of 75 mm. As a lower limit, the pitch length may be approximately 7.5 mm, which is set by manufacturing and assembly practical constraints. As for the upper limit, the pitch length may be limited by the furniture construct size (i.e., limitations on voxels fitting into the shape of the furniture object), but may otherwise have no upper limit. In the case of a mattress construct, the limiting size may be the mattress thickness which ranges from 9 to 12 inches. While manufacturing and assembly constraints are less significant in larger voxel implementations, the effective properties of the assembled structure are diminished due to the cell count of n =1 in the loading direction. In some variations, specialized voxels may be incorporated that have a volume that is a discrete multiple or fraction of the unit volume (e.g., one half, or double the unit volume).
The material composition of each voxel may be dependent on the method of voxel construction. For example in injection molding variations, voxels may be composed of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) or glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP). In 3D printed variations, the voxels may be composed of thermoplastics (plastic 3D printing), composites, such as carbon fiber (FDM 3D printing, resins (SLA 3D printing), nylons (SLS 3D printing), titanium or other printed metals (metal 3D printing). Although any general method of voxel construction and material type may be incorporated in voxel construction for the system, there is one material limitation that must be incorporated into each voxel, and thus the entire system: For any lattice of interconnected voxels, the normalized size of the system (i.e.: the dimension in voxel-based units) must be greater than the length of a single voxel. In other words, inter-connecting voxel joints are designed to fail at higher loads prior to the failure of voxel edges. From a voxel material and method of composition perspective, this loading constraint may limit the types of material that may be used to produce a voxel; or more specifically, set a limitation on the voxel edge thickness dependent on material type.
Each voxel may have a plurality of interface surfaces. As used herein, the interface surface is defined as the voxel surface where another voxel may be rested on and thereby connected to. The number and shape of the interface surfaces of a voxel may be dependent on the voxel geometry and the voxel type. For the cubaoctahedra example, each voxel may have six interface surfaces that are relatively square shaped. Additionally, the specific shape of the interface surface may be influenced by the voxel type. For the cubaoctahedra example, as shown in FIG. 9 , the interface surface may have variations of the relatively square shape for a rigid voxel (left), compliant voxel (center), and a hyperelastic voxel (right). FIG. 10 shows the connection of four prototype hyperelastic voxels. It should be noted, that although the interface surfaces of different types of voxels may have a varied shape, for any given implementation, the interface surfaces do still match up such that the interface surfaces and inter-connecting joints align and enable inter voxel connections.
Each voxel from the set of voxels may have a voxel type. The voxel type is defined by the voxel loading response (i.e., strain response to tensile and compressive stress), which can be calculated based on the geometry of the parts and the material they are made from. Herein three voxel types are presented: a rigid voxel type, a compliant voxel type, and a hyperelastic voxel type. As shown in FIG. 11 , these voxel types provide different responses to tensile and compressive loads. With variations of each voxel type, a continuum of stress and strain response may be implemented. Generally, any voxel “type” may be constructed to have the desired linear or nonlinear response. FIG. 12 shows the range of stiffness of each voxel type, for common furniture construction implementations with voxels having a pitch length of 75 mm. As can be noted, in this example rigid voxels have a stiffness comparable to a closed cell foam, compliant voxels have a stiffness comparable to a metal spring, and hyperelastic voxels have a stiffness comparable to an open cell foam. By changing the material construction and geometry of each voxel type, different levels of stiffness may be achieved.
In some variations, the system may include a rigid voxel type (also referred to as a rigid voxel). The rigid voxel type may function to provide a stiff support structure. From a stress response perspective, as shown in FIG. 13 , the rigid voxels may resolve elastic external loading through axial beam tension and compression. The load/deflection response will be linear elastic, followed by non-linear elastic (Euler beam buckling), followed by non-linear plastic, and finally rupture and failure. For a given application, an operational load can be defined as maintaining a safety factor below the yield stress (transition from linear to non-linear), to avoid failure, as seen in FIG. 14 . From a composition perspective, as shown in FIG. 15 , rigid voxels may be designed to have a high stiffness to weight ratio, which is achieved with the triangulated lattice geometry. Preferably, under designed operating conditions for a furniture construction, the rigid voxel may have a stiffness of approximately 10-1000 MPa, with operational strain up to 5%.
In some variations, the system may include a compliant voxel type (i.e., compliant voxel). The compliant voxel type may function to provide a level of elasticity to the furniture construct, providing a linear spring-like response. From a stress response perspective, as shown in FIG. 16 , the compliant voxel resolves axial beam forces primarily through elastic deformation of the planar flexures. In some variations, the compliant voxel shows consistent elastomeric behavior at even single voxel resolution. One representative example of a compliant voxel stress/strain graph is shown in FIG. 17 . From a composition perspective, as shown in FIG. 18 , the compliant voxel may be designed by replacing the rigid beams of the rigid voxel with beams that function as planar springs (e.g., corrugated flexure beams), thereby significantly reducing the effective stiffness of the structure. In some variations, the compliant voxel may have a near-zero Poisson ratio. Preferably, under designed operating conditions for a furniture construction, the compliant voxel may have a stiffness of approximately 1 - 100 MPa, with operational strain up to 50%.
In some variations, the system may include a hyperelastic voxel type (i.e., hyperelastic voxel). The hyperelastic voxel may function to provide “foam-like” elasticity to the furniture construct. From a stress response perspective, as shown in FIG. 19 , this is characterized by an initial region of linear-elastic behavior, followed by a non-linear transition to a high strain and low stress region, followed by another non-linear transition to a final high stress/low strain region. One representative example of a hyperelastic stress/strain graph is shown in FIG. 20 . In this example, for a hyperelastic voxel, the four operating states in response to a compressive stress include: a linear elastic state which will have strains from approximately 0 to 5% in response to an initial level of stress of approximately 0 to 5 kPa; a non-linear transition to a high strain elastic buckling state with strains from approximately 5 to 10% in response to a low stress of approximately 5-10 kPa; a second non-linear transition to a high strain collapsing state with strains from approximately 10% to 50%, with relatively little change in stress; and a densification state with strains from approximately 50 to 75%, in response to a high level of stress of approximately 10-25 kPa. As shown in FIG. 21 , from a composition perspective, the hyperelastic voxel may be designed as a slice of an existing low-connectivity geometry (i.e., Kelvin lattice). That is, the hyperelastic voxel comprises a Kelvin lattice that has been modified to fit in the cuboctahedron grid. Typically, the Kelvin lattice is more spacious than the cuboctahedron grid, but by using a slicing operation, it fits within the grid. This process, as shown in FIG. 22 , allows the kelvin geometry to be compatible with the cuboctahedron lattice grid spacing without significantly altering the performance. Preferably, under designed operating conditions for a furniture construction, the hyperelastic voxel may have a stiffness of approximately 0.1 - 10 MPa.
As shown in FIG. 23 , as part of a two-dimensional voxel lattice, combinations of voxel types may be used to form different zones/regions of compliance on, or within, the furniture construct system. In this example, as part of a mattress implementation, as shown in FIG. 24 , different combinations of rigid, compliant, and hyperelastic voxel types create three different vertical zones. The stiffness (K) of each zone may be determined through the summation of the inverse stiffness of each voxel incorporated in the zone. As shown in FIG. 25 , on the two ends, the lattice comprises an arrangement of just rigid voxels, creating a rigid zone (zone 1), i.e., a zone comprising just rigid voxels. One voxel inwards from the two extremes, is a medium zone (zone 2), comprising a combination of compliant voxels and rigid voxels. In the middle section of the lattice, is a soft zone (zone 3) comprising a combination of hyperelastic, compliant, and rigid voxels. Thus, for the three-dimensional mattress, the mattress construct may comprise a rigid zone along the exterior perimeter of the system, followed by a medium zone directly inside the rigid zone, and followed by a soft zone covering the majority interior of the mattress construct.
As this mattress construct is only a three voxel height example, there is a limitation on the number of zones that may be created. A greater number of voxels, in the direction of compression, may provide a greater number of variations of zones of compliance. Generally, the three voxel height zones may be generalized for furniture constructs larger than three voxels according to the stiffness of that region. Furthermore, to generalize the three voxel example, as shown in FIG. 26 , zones constructed of a single voxel type, are named after that voxel type; that is a zone constructed of only rigid voxels is a rigid zone, a zone constructed of only compliant voxels is a compliant zone, and a zone constructed of only hyperelastic voxels is a hyperelastic zone. Medium zones comprise any mixture of voxels with a stiffness between a rigid zone and a compliant zone. Soft zones comprise any mixture of voxels with a stiffness between a compliant zone and a hyperelastic zone.
For a fixed voxel lattice height (number of voxels), medium zones may be made “softer” by the replacement of rigid voxels with compliant voxels and made “harder” by the replacement of compliant voxels with rigid voxels. In the same manner, soft zones may be made “softer” by the replacement of compliant voxels with hyperelastic voxels and made “harder” by the replacement of hyperelastic voxels with compliant voxels. With the increase of a greater voxel height more nuances of medium and soft zones may be created. In this manner any zone may be made softer by replacing a voxel with a less rigid voxel, or made harder by replacing a voxel with a more rigid voxel.
To further generalize the mattress construct, as shown in FIG. 27 (right), the majority interior region (also called the sleep region) of the mattress construction may have more complex regions of compliance. In many variations, the sleeping region may be more customized into a greater number of zones of compliance. For example, as shown in FIG. 27 , a mattress may include spatially distributed zones of compliance with softer and harder soft zones and medium zones (right hand side), to provide greater comfort.
For example, the sleeping region may be subdivided into body regions, rectangular regions crossing the lateral axis of the mattress. In many variations, these body regions include: two upper/lower-regions, and a mid-region. In some examples, the upper/lower regions may be distinct for a head region and a leg region. Alternatively, they may be symmetric. In symmetric implementations, the upper/lower-regions are situated such that one is approximately where a person would rest the majority of their shoulder and the other is situated approximately where a person would rest the majority of their legs. The mid-region may be situated approximately where a person would rest their midbody. These may be customized for a specific individual, or may come as a general implementation set by the mattress size. In one body region implementation (FIG. 27 top right), each upper/lower-region comprises a soft zone, and the mid-region comprises five lateral striations, three soft zone striations with two medium zone striations in between. The rest of the sleeping region may be a medium zone. In a second body region implementation (FIG. 27 bottom right), each upper/lower-region comprises a soft zone along the perimeter of the region and a softer soft zone in the interior of each upper/lower region. The mid-region comprises seven lateral striations, four soft zone striations, with three softer, soft zone striations in between.
Zones of compliance may be customized both from a furniture perspective and the type of user. As shown in FIG. 28 , a mattress furniture construct may be customized for different types of sleepers. As seen in the z-direction (bottom figure) different combinations of compliant voxels and hyperelastic voxels may be used to create varying levels of compliance based on the wants and needs of a user/customer. In one specific example, as shown in FIG. 29 , for a side sleeper, both the spatial positioning of the zones of compliance and the amount of compliance may be modified to meet user needs. As an example of ergonomic customizability, the system may be customized (both directly by the user or through an automated implementation) to meet certain ergonomic standards. In this example, different types of voxels may be used to adjust the mattress zones of compliance to ensure that the side sleeper maintains a straight spinal cord while laying down. That is, the sleeping region may be ergonomically customized with varying levels of soft zones and medium zones such that a person laying on their side, on the sleeping zone, maintains a straight spinal cord. In another example, the mattress may be ergonomically customized for a back sleeper. In this example, the sleeping region may be ergonomically customized with varying levels of soft zones and medium zones such that a person laying down on their back, on the sleeping zone, maintains a straight spinal cord.
Customizability may be further extended for multiple people. As shown in FIG. 30 , zones of compliance may be made in the x and y direction to accommodate different sleeping habits of multiple with different sleeping styles. In one example, the sleeping region is divided into a right side and a left side, wherein each sleeping region is customized for a different person.
As used herein, first, second, third, etc. are used to characterize and distinguish various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections. These elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. Use of numerical terms may be used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer and/or section from another element, component, region, layer and/or section. Use of such numerical terms does not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Such numerical references may be used interchangeable without departing from the teaching of the embodiments and variations herein.
As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the figures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A system for a cellular furniture construction, comprising:

a set of voxels, that form a lattice, providing the shape of the furniture construction,

wherein regions of the furniture construction comprise distinct three-dimensional arrangements of different voxel types providing distinct stress/strain properties to the regions; and

wherein each voxel comprises

a voxel type, defined by a stress and strain properties of the voxel and

a cellular three dimensional volume enabled to connect with other voxels along any one of the voxel interface surfaces.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of voxels includes:

a hyperelastic voxel type, wherein each hyperelastic voxel has at least four operating states in response to a compressive stress comprising:

a linear elastic state which will have strains from approximately 0 to 5% in response to an initial level of stress of approximately 0 to 5 kPa;

a non-linear transition to a high strain elastic buckling state with strains from approximately 5 to 10% in response to a low stress of approximately 5-10 kPa;

a second non-linear transition to a high strain collapsing state with strains from approximately 10% to 50%, with relatively little change in stress; and

a densification state with strains from approximately 50 to 75%, in response to a high level of stress of approximately 10-25 kPa.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of voxels includes a hyperelastic voxel type, wherein each hyperelastic voxel comprises a Kelvin lattice that has been modified to fit in the cuboctahedron grid, providing intersecting planes of low-connectivity mechanisms that resolve external loading in internal beam bending.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the set of voxels includes a rigid voxel type and a compliant voxel type, wherein

each rigid voxel a stiffness regime of 10-1000 MPa, and

each compliant voxel has a stiffness regime of 1-100 MPa.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the set of voxels includes a rigid voxel type and a compliant voxel type, wherein:

each rigid voxel comprises rigid beams and has a triangulated lattice geometry with a high stiffness to weight ratio; and

each compliant voxel comprises corrugated flexure beams.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the system includes regions of compliance comprising combinations of voxel types.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the regions of compliance include rigid zones, comprising only rigid voxels.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the regions of compliance include medium zones, comprising a combination of compliant voxels and rigid voxels.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the regions of compliance includes soft zones, comprising a combination of hyperelastic voxels, compliant voxels, and rigid voxels.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the specific arrangement of the set of voxels provides different furniture implementations.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein for a mattress implementation, the system comprises a rigid zone along the exterior perimeter of the mattress construct, followed by a medium zone directly inside the rigid zone, wherein the medium zone encircles a sleeping region covering the majority interior surface of the mattress construct.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the sleeping region comprises a soft zone.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the sleeping region of the mattress is subdivided into body regions, rectangular regions crossing the lateral axis of the mattress, comprising:

two upper/lower-regions, a region situated approximately where a person would rest the majority of their shoulder and a region situated approximately where a person would rest the majority of their legs;

and a mid-region, a region situated approximately where a person would rest their midbody.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the upper/lower-regions comprise soft zones, and the mid-region comprises five lateral striations, three soft zones striations with two medium zone striations in between.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein:

medium zones can be made softer by the replacement of rigid voxels with compliant voxels and made harder by the replacement of compliant voxels with rigid voxels; and

soft zones can be made softer by the replacement of compliant voxels with hyperelastic voxels and made harder by the replacement of hyperelastic voxels with compliant voxels.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein:

each upper/lower-region comprises an soft zone along the perimeter of the region and a softer soft zone in the interior of each upper/lower region; and

the mid-region comprises seven lateral striations, four soft zone striations with three softer, soft zone striations in between.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the sleeping region is ergonomically customized with varying levels of soft zones and medium zones such that a person laying on their side on the sleeping zone, maintains a straight spinal cord.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the sleeping region is ergonomically customized with varying levels of soft zones and medium zones such that a person laying down on their back on the sleeping zone, maintains a straight spinal cord.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the sleeping region is divided into a right side and a left side, and wherein each sleeping region is customized for a different person.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the system further includes: a fabric cover, a fire retardant layer, and a soft foam layer.