A recent paper published in the 35th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology examines Fibercuit, “a set of rapid prototyping techniques to fabricate high resolution, flexible circuits on-demand, using a fiber laser engraver.”

Created by Zeyu Yan, Anup Sathya, Sahra Yusuf, Jyh-Ming Lien, and Huaishu Peng, Fibercuit results in circuits that are visually spectacular and extraordinarily unique in terms of form factor, size, stiffness, and malleability. Examples showcased by the team include “custom dice, flex cables, custom end-stop switches, electromagnetic coils, LED earrings, and a circuit in the form of a kirigami crane.”

The laser engraver achieves the effect by engraving a specific shape on a layer of Kapton tape over a thin copper sheet, cutting only through the copper. Material in isolation areas can be peeled away, and electrical or other components soldered to the circuit for additional complexity, if necessary.

Want to learn more about Fibercuit? Take a look at the video above, or visit the project page on the University of Maryland’s Small Artifacts Lab website.