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- Keechdesign News (29)
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Cool Materials: Illuminating Stuff
Posted by: D Cane on 10th Jan 2011 in Opinion
Disney’s ‘Tron Legacy’ opened over Christmas, so doubtless a couple of weeks ago there were lightcycles and Jeff Bridges dolls propping up Christmas trees across the land. The premier party at Tate Modern saw the production design of the film realised in the shape of costumes, installations, furniture, floor coverings and a mind-bending light show.
It demonstrated that this synthetic future may not be that far off after all...
For example, Lumalive was unveiled by Philips a few of years ago at Berlin IFA. It is a textile technology that integrates a matrix of minute LEDs into fabrics to create dynamic light displays. The layered system is capable of millions of colours and uses very little power.
Lumalive: courtesy Philips
So far Lumalive has been used as a showcase at trade shows, corporate events and the like, but according to Philips, consumer applications will be starting to appear this year.
So what might we expect? There are many possibilities in terms of both communication and ornament for wearables. Most obviously any sort of safety wear where Scotchlite is currently used, particularly handy at this time of year if you ride a bike. And what about sportswear? With illuminating pitch markings and game balls, could Lumalive kits mean outdoor sports take place without the cost, energy consumption and light pollution caused by floodlights?
Chances are any new technology integrated wearables will have network access, so could we see patterned textiles that never go out of style? Updating with changing fashion trends from moment to moment, rather than season to season?
For the moment though, Lumalive is still quite low resolution. First to tick that box in our Tron-like future, will probably be FOLED (‘F’ for flexible and ‘O’ for organic, the rest you know). OLED technology has already found it’s way into TVs and phones, but the leap for flexible displays is that they will give rise to previously impossible displays and devices. Whilst the latest MacBook Air may be thin enough to fit into an envelope, a FOLED display could roll up into your pocket, or around your shirt sleeve.
And where the MacBook uses a machined sheet of aluminium (the ‘Unibody’) to protect the display, FOLED displays won’t need any protection; they will be free to just bend and flex to suit the user.
All we need now are motorcycles that trail walls of light behind them and we are set for an illuminated future...
Tron Legacy Lightcycle. Image: Disney
Posted by: D Cane on 10th Jan 2011 in Opinion
Disney’s ‘Tron Legacy’ opened over Christmas, so doubtless a couple of weeks ago there were lightcycles and Jeff Bridges dolls propping up Christmas trees across the land. The premier party at Tate Modern saw the production design of the film realised in the shape of costumes, installations, furniture, floor coverings and a mind-bending light show.
It demonstrated that this synthetic future may not be that far off after all...
For example, Lumalive was unveiled by Philips a few of years ago at Berlin IFA. It is a textile technology that integrates a matrix of minute LEDs into fabrics to create dynamic light displays. The layered system is capable of millions of colours and uses very little power.
Lumalive: courtesy Philips
So far Lumalive has been used as a showcase at trade shows, corporate events and the like, but according to Philips, consumer applications will be starting to appear this year.
So what might we expect? There are many possibilities in terms of both communication and ornament for wearables. Most obviously any sort of safety wear where Scotchlite is currently used, particularly handy at this time of year if you ride a bike. And what about sportswear? With illuminating pitch markings and game balls, could Lumalive kits mean outdoor sports take place without the cost, energy consumption and light pollution caused by floodlights?
Chances are any new technology integrated wearables will have network access, so could we see patterned textiles that never go out of style? Updating with changing fashion trends from moment to moment, rather than season to season?
For the moment though, Lumalive is still quite low resolution. First to tick that box in our Tron-like future, will probably be FOLED (‘F’ for flexible and ‘O’ for organic, the rest you know). OLED technology has already found it’s way into TVs and phones, but the leap for flexible displays is that they will give rise to previously impossible displays and devices. Whilst the latest MacBook Air may be thin enough to fit into an envelope, a FOLED display could roll up into your pocket, or around your shirt sleeve.
And where the MacBook uses a machined sheet of aluminium (the ‘Unibody’) to protect the display, FOLED displays won’t need any protection; they will be free to just bend and flex to suit the user.
All we need now are motorcycles that trail walls of light behind them and we are set for an illuminated future...
Tron Legacy Lightcycle. Image: Disney
Comments
Posted by Ben on 14th Jan 2011 09:26 AM
I'd like a cycling jacket with a large illuminating selection of suitable phrases across the back, that I can choose at the press of a button..."back off!" and other less polite ones perhaps?
I'd like a cycling jacket with a large illuminating selection of suitable phrases across the back, that I can choose at the press of a button..."back off!" and other less polite ones perhaps?
Posted by Tuk2 on 14th Jan 2011 09:29 AM
road crews and motorway maintenance people - in fact the whole world of hi-viz...surely illuminated is always better than luminous?
road crews and motorway maintenance people - in fact the whole world of hi-viz...surely illuminated is always better than luminous?
