The little elves are hard at work designing Mer-chan things but stumbled across this fantastic pattern making software that converts a 3D model into a flat pattern. See the quicktime movie demo. This is a joint collaboration with The University of Tokyo and JST Presto. It’s still in prototype mode and there are no plans to mass produce it. Back to work, lazy elves!

Maybe soon the Mer-chan Cub Reporter won’t have to lie down on cloth while the elves cut around her body. Remind us to tell you the story of how she lost her tail.