• NodeBox’s graph-visualization toolkit (http://nodebox.net/code/index.php/Graph) and its web interface were showcased for automatically extracting concept networks from text, demonstrating that “life” emerged as the dominant node in a sample corpus.

• A Blender-based virtual companion project (“Maid San”) was proposed as a high-quality rigging platform for interactive AI companions, with participants connecting it to earlier work on automatic story generation and roguelike game engines.

• Snap-fit and interference-fit mechanics were analyzed using a stiffness-matrix model (http://heybryan.org/books/papers/Modeling%20and%20Simulation%20of%20the%20Assembly%20of%20Snap%20Joints.pdf); the group debated whether “allowance” equals interference distance and warned that press-fitting acrylic risks cracking.

• MIT’s CABIN instant-cabin project (http://ddf.mit.edu/projects/CABIN/) and Physical Design Co.’s press-fit tab-and-slot kits were critiqued for lacking rigorous load analysis, prompting discussion on the trade-offs between human-assembled kits and fully automated construction.

• The Prometheus-2 fusion-reactor concept (http://www.prometheus2.net/) was introduced, with participants noting its dual-use potential as a plasma-cannon/EMP device and linking the ICC-2002 poster (http://www.prometheus2.net/ICC_2002_POSTER.pdf).

• The group argued that a “standard interconnect” for modular construction could become a trap, instead favoring standardized support frames for tools rather than finished products, and proposed min-a-max—a shape-grammar system combining Lego-like nodes with triangulated struts—for building lightweight, high-precision CNC and Stewart-platform frames.

• Snap-fit joints were contrasted with press-fit and screws: well-designed snap-fits provide negative feedback that self-corrects misalignment, but current examples remain limited to plastics and small spring-steel parts.

• Tensegrity and geodesic-dome mathematics were discussed as parametric, scalable solutions for large load-bearing structures, with links to origami-inspired folding patterns and real-world dome photos, alongside speculative visions of “ever-expanding houses” that autonomously design, source materials, and construct themselves.