Hoberman's father was an architect, and his mother, Mary Ann Hoberman, was a children's book author.[3] He wanted to be an artist from an early age, doing drawing and painting, and eventually taking courses at Cooper UnioninNew York City. He studied liberal artsatBrown University, and went on to earn a bachelor's degreeinsculpture from Cooper Union in 1979, and a master's degreeinmechanical engineering from Columbia University. At some point during his education, he was asked to produce a sculpture that could move. He made a work that unrolled colored plastic sheets on the floor, and he became fascinated with kinetic art.[3]
Finishing his formal education, he then went to work for a robotics engineering firm, where he added computer modeling (CAD-CAM) to his skills.[3] After six years, he left to pursue his artistic and technical interests full-time.
Hoberman has installed permanent building facades that transform in transparency at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering of Harvard University and the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University.[4] He designed the Hoberman Arch as a centerpiece of Salt Lake City during the 2002 Olympics. It was later moved to Olympic Cauldron Park and then to the Salt Lake City airport.
In July 2011, the rock band U2 concluded a nearly three-year world-wide concert tour (called "360°") that featured Hoberman's expanding video screen, a 3,800 square feet (350 m2) elliptical display that would grow into a seven-story cone. The display weighed 120,000 pounds (54,000 kg), and incorporated 888 LED screens displaying a total of 500,000 pixels. The complex apparatus was successfully transported and reassembled for 110 concerts during that time.[4]
In addition to toys such as the Hoberman sphere, Hoberman created the "Brain Twist", a hard plastic tetrahedron that folds, stellates, and becomes self-dual while having a component that rotates similarly to a Rubik's Cube. Likewise, Hoberman's "Pocket Flight Ring" is a folding, throwable toy resembling a chakram.[5] Hoberman has also created the Expandagon Construction System, a kind of construction toy,[6] and the Switch Pitch, a toy which turns itself inside out when tossed into the air, thus appearing to change colors.[7]
In 1994, the Museum of Modern Art added the Hoberman sphere into its permanent collection.[8] Hoberman won the Chrysler Design Award for Innovation and Design in 1997 and was a finalist for the 2000 SmithsonianNational Design Award. He shared the LDI2009 Award for Excellence in Video Design and Technology for the U2360 expanding video screen.[9]
^US 5024031, Hoberman, Charles, "Radial expansion/retraction truss structures", published 1991-06-18
^US 5234727, Hoberman, Charles, "Curved pleated sheet structures", published 1993-08-10
^US 6082056, Hoberman, Charles, "Reversibly expandable structures having polygon links", published 2000-07-04
^US 6190231, Hoberman, Charles, "Continuously rotating mechanisms", published 2001-02-20
^US 6739098, Hoberman, Charles, "Retractable structures comprised of interlinked panels", published 2004-05-25
^US 6834465, Hoberman, Charles, "Folding covering panels for expanding structures", published 2004-12-28
^US 7100333, Hoberman, Charles, "Loop assemblies having a central link", published 2006-09-05
^US 7125015, Hoberman, Charles & Davis, Matthew, "Transforming puzzle", published 2006-10-24, assigned to Charles Hoberman
^US 7464503, Hoberman, Charles, "Geared expanding structures", published 2008-12-16
^US 7540215, Hoberman, Charles & Davis, Matthew, "Synchronized ring linkages", published 2009-06-02, assigned to Charles Hoberman
^US 7584777, Hoberman, Charles & Davis, Matthew, "Panel assemblies for variable shading and ventilation", published 2009-09-08, assigned to Charles Hoberman
^US 7559174, Hoberman, Charles, "Covering structure having links and stepped overlapping panels both of which are pivotable between extended position and a retracted position in which the panels are stacked", published 2009-07-14
^US 7644721, Hoberman, Charles & Davis, Matthew, "Synchronized four-bar linkages", published 2010-01-12, assigned to Charles Hoberman
^US 8615970, Hoberman, Charles; Davis, Matthew & Drozdowski, Zygmunt Joseph et al., "Panel assemblies having controllable surface properties", published 2013-12-31