A soft robot has no problem moving with no motor and no gears

Why do these kept getting made? I feel like I see some new soft robot every few months or so. Are they used to infiltrate past grates in a sewer security system and slide under lasers or something what is up with these???

There's this YouTube channel called "soiboi soft"[0] that is doing many experiments with air-powered soft robotics and microfluidics.

It's a pretty cool concept and might have interesting albeit niche applications.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/@soiboisoft

Article with better quality video here https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-origami-robot-built-prin...