>>2642508Sounds like a lot of work, and also are you going to reliably find sand at every camp site?
Next breakthrough in shelter design probably won't come until science fiction type smart/nano/memory materials become possible. Imagine a sheet that could be crumpled/folded rolled up, but when "activated" (maybe by electricity?) would assume a rigid form which could be used as walls. A "pyramid on its side wedge" shaped shelter would only need 4 sides (a triangular bottom, two triangular sides meeting in a roof, and a triangular entry/exit wall where you would also sleep with your head) and the shape might be stable on its own without poles.
I know this is pure sci-fi and borderline off topic. Until these materials arrive, the next best source for innovation would likely be novel pitches/tension arrangements, like that tensegrity stuff that went viral a few years ago, or something left field like the brake lines with sand idea only less reliant on your environment.