Cellbond manufactures translucent honeycomb panels comprised of an aluminum honeycomb core sandwiched between toughened glass or polycarbonate skins. The use of a bonded sandwich results in a high strength-to-weight ratio and provides excellent resistance to deflection. The honeycomb core also provides rigidity with very low density.
Cellbond manufactures honeycomb panels which may be used as decorative partitions, as well as durable flooring and vandal-resistant panels. [via the Cellbond website; suggested by Cam Allen, Seattle.]
Quin Media Arts And Sciences designs and sells sculptural images using the Ombrae System, an optical tile technology. Conceived by founder Rod Quin, Ombrae translates digitized images or other input into an array of light-reflecting three-dimensional tiles.
An Ombrae image is highly responsive to changes in environmental light and changes in the audience's viewing angle. It stimulates viewer interaction as it appears to shift, while preserving the source image. It can be made from a variety of materials with different surface and structural characteristics. The Ombrae system is effective at virtually any scale, so it is equally useful on buildings and consumer products. [via the QMAAS website; suggested by Andrew Thomson, Vancouver.]
Porocom - short for 'porous construction material' - is an environmentally friendly product that reduces noise pollution. It consists of granules of recycled materials (sintered coal ashes, clay, glass shards, eco grid and so forth) heated to about 200°C before being brought into contact with thermosetting powder paint, a residue of the manufacture of coatings. The paint quickly covers the granules, but does not completely harden at this point. The coated granules, a semi-manufactured product, are marketed as Porocom. The end product is made by sintering the granules in a mould, causing them to stick together and achieve maximum hardness. [via Tenberge Coating.]
Cost competitive biomaterials are in demand by industry as they are usually sourced from renewable resources. Plantic is a new and developing type of biomaterial based on starch.
The first commercial application of Plantic technology is in packaging and display trays. Plantic trays look, feel and function the same as traditional plastic trays except that Plantic trays are made from renewable resources, are compostable and, most interestingly, dissolve when in water.
The production facility in Melbourne, Australia produces flat sheet roll stock in a range of standard colors and gauges for use by industry. The standard color range is natural, white, brown, black and gold and it can be produced to tailor individual requirements.
Plantic finished products are priced competitively with plastic trays made from petrochemical plastics. Plantic trays are not subject to the dramatic price variations petrochemical products are exposed to. Plantic is suitable for dry foods packaging such as biscuit and confectionary trays, blister packaging, and trays for electronic components. [via the Plantic website; suggested by Keith Carlson, Laguna Beach, CA.]
Imagine a smart credit card that not only stores electronic money and records your transactions but also has its own energy source. Or a sun roof that delivers electricity to your car battery. Imagine each powered by flexible, ultra-thin, see-through solar panels.
These scenarios may not be far off, thanks to a photovoltaic cell production process unveiled by Toshiba scientists in May at the 16th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland. The Toshiba design is an improvement to the Graetzel cell, a new type of solar panel that relies on titanium dioxide nanocrystals coated with a dye. When struck by light, the dye "injects" energized electrons into the semiconducting titanium, which generates electrical power. Graetzel cells' advantages over conventional silicon solar panels include transparency, low materials costs and the ability to operate efficiently under cloudy skies.
Earlier Graetzel designs, however, mostly relied on a liquid electrolyte to replenish the dye with electrons; this proved impractical because of the risk of leakage. Toshiba is the first to succeed in encapsulating liquid electrolyte in a durable solid - a "cross-linked" gel that can withstand temperatures of up to 120 C.
Shuzi Hayase, a chief research scientist at Toshiba's Power Supply Materials & Devices Laboratory in Kawasaki, says the cells achieve a respectable 7.3 percent solar-energy conservation efficiency and should be easy to manufacture. "We do not need expensive production lines and sophisticated vacuum systems currently employed in the manufacture of silicon-based cells. The new cells could be manufactured by [silk-screen] printing technologies." [via Technology Review; suggested by Dorm Anderson, Seattle.]
Cleanliness, efficiency, compactness, cool-factor - for a variety of reasons, automatic doors have become a standard feature of Japanese shops. While the typical sliding star-trek style design has proven itself, the Tanaka Auto Door aims to improve upon a good concept. This new design entails strips equipped with infrared sensors that open to the approximate shape of the person or object passing through, minimizing entry of dust, pollen, and bugs while keeping precious air-conditioning in. The technology for the new design seems to be in it's infancy, but Japan has proven once again that it's a least ten years ahead of everyone else. [via Gizmodo Japan; suggested by John Gaul, Seattle.]
Every parking lot, driveway, sidewalk and road is an impervious surface acting as an unbroken barrier between the wet rain falling from the sky and the dry earth below. Water draining from these surfaces gains speed and quickly rolls off all exposed ground, and even minor rains become small scale floods eroding what little soil is exposed, quickly filling municipal storm systems.
Biopaving is a “green” solution for storm water management that integrates impervious surfaces and islands of biomitigating and bioremediating plant material. These bio-islands of phytoremediating plants are manufactured into the product and unwrapped by the environment after installation through biodegradation.
The Biopaver is an innovative interlocking concrete paver with prepackaged soil and phytoremediating planting material. Once the paver is exposed to the elements, the mold and packaging biodegrade and help set the paver into place, and bioremediating plants begin to grow. These tough plants filter the contaminants from the storm water as it passes through this pervious heart of the paver. [via the Biopaver website; suggested by Clayton Whitman, Seattle.]
POP is a 3d formpressed interior panel made of plywood, intended for covering walls and partitions. POP was designed by Jaana Ylitalo for use in lobbies, office interiors, cafeterias, restaurants, hotels, stores, etc. Material options include natural birch and warm-tone cherry. Elements can also be mixed together with flat plywood. POP is available in 20 x 20 cm and 40 x 40 cm panels, with a thickness of 6 mm. [via the Brainwood website; suggested by Scott Hartkopf, Bellingham, WA.]
You may soon be able to reach out and manipulate clay in cyberspace, thanks to a new tool for transmitting touch to the virtual world.
"This technology will give product designers, or even artists, a tool that will allow them to touch, shape, and manipulate virtual objects just as they would with actual clay models or sculptures," says Thenkurussi Kesavadas, director of the University at Buffalo's Virtual Reality Lab.
The virtual clay sculpting system replicates in real time the physical act of sculpting a block of clay. The computer generates a 3-D electronic shape that can then be fine-tuned for product design.
The designer uses a "ModelGlove" that records the force exerted by the hand when depressing and shaping a block of clay. The force-feedback information, hand position, speed of fingertip motion, and other information are communicated instantaneously to a computer, where the virtual clay is shaped precisely to the contouring of the actual clay.
The technique promises not only to allow for more-intuitive design than is possible with current mouse-based computer prototyping devices, but also to make virtual reality more realistic.
"The most natural tool for a designer is his or her hand," says Kesavadas. "Touch is the next frontier in the evolution of virtual reality. Most virtual-reality technologies to this point have focused on 3-D visualization, but the sense of touch may be the most powerful way to make virtual reality more real." [via the University of Buffalo website.]
Scientists are developing a technology to save energy by transmitting sunlight into buildings through tubes.
Indoor electric lighting is the largest consumer of electricity in commercial buildings, according to researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Their new system, called hybrid solar lighting, would reduce this energy usage with fixtures that supplement or completely replace electric light with sunlight, at times when it’s available.
In the system, a rooftop collector concentrates and sends sunlight through optical fibers, tubes made of special, high-purity material that transmit light by reflecting it down their inner walls. The fibers would transmit sunlight to special fixtures inside the building, which also contain high-efficiency fluorescent lighting. When the transmitted sunlight completely illuminates each room, the electric lights stay off.
When less natural light is available during cloudy days and at night, a sensor activates controls that increase electric lighting adequately to supplement natural lighting and maintain desired illumination levels. The laboratory’s Jeff Muhs spearheaded the development of the technology, organizing a collaboration of more than 25 organizations in 13 states to help in the research.
The Oak Ridge labortory plans to help install hybrid solar lighting at the headquarters of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in Sacramento, Calif., under a contract by the California Energy Commission. The laboratory also plans to install an HSL system in a Wal-Mart store in Kauai, Hawaii, to evaluate energy savings and sales trends associated with HSL daylighting. [via World Science; suggested by Tim Barnard, Venice, CA.]
The LED substitute for neon lighting has arrived. After two years of research and development, Mule Lighting has developed a product that looks like traditional neon but is more versatile.
To make LED-FLEX, Mule Lighting incorporated light emitting diode (LED) technology into a flexible and durable package that has the appearance and brightness of traditional neon. The uniform and super-bright light output is achieved through a proprietary optical maximization technique which is completely sealed and impervious to shock and vibration.
LED-FLEX is suitable for wet locations and can withstand extreme temperatures. The product uses very little energy, requires little maintenance, and is available in a variety of bright colors. [via the Mule Lighting website; suggested by John Ainslie, Wiltshire, UK.]
Plastic Logic is developing licensable manufacturing solutions for printing thin and flexible active-matrix displays. When combined with an electronic-paper imaging film, Plastic Logic's backplane technology enables highly portable, readable and power efficient displays. The initial application focus is e-readers (e.g. e-books, e-dictionaries, e-maps, e-newspapers). These displays will often be wirelessly connected to WAN devices such mobile phones and PDAs, allowing users to access content 'on-the-move' more comfortably and efficiently than is possible using a small integrated display.
This is the first step towards flexible and plastic backplanes for a range of display applications and frontplane technologies including LCD and OLED. Features include resolution up to 150ppi (pixels per inch); scaleable area to A4 (210mm by 297mm) and above; 4 levels of grayscale; high aperture ratio / fill factor; and bistable e-paper which enables high contrast reflective display (sun-light readable) and ultra-low power consumption. [via the Plastic Logic website; suggested by Corrie Messinger, Columbus.]
Presto's perforated Geoweb cellular confinement system features an engineered pattern of perforations in the cell wall. This hole pattern provides increased frictional interlock with coarse aggregates, crushed rock and concrete.
In vegetated systems, the perforations increase root lock-up, creating a more stable vegetated mass and overall healthier soil environment. The perforations allow lateral drainage through the system, thereby enhancing performance of the system in saturated soil conditions.
The Geoweb system enhances system performance in slope and channel protection, earth retention and load support applications. The multi-layered earth retention system is used for a wide range of design requirements and site conditions. The system's flexibility allows it to withstand large differential settlements and conform to a contoured landscape while typically using on-site infill materials. The system's outer cells, when filled with topsoil, provide an ideal environment to support vegetation. [via the Presto website; suggested by Chris Swigert, San Francisco.]
Electroluminescent Wire consists of a concentric series of layers, each performing a different function. In the center is a solid copper conductor, which is coated with an electroluminescent phosphor. Two very fine wires are wrapped around the phosphor. A clear or colored plastic sheath comes next, and a second plastic sheath surrounds the first. The functions of each of these layers are as follows:
The center copper conductor and the two fine wires together supply power. The copper conductor also provides a small amount of mechanical rigidity, and is used as a substrate upon which to deposit the phosphor. The phosphor is the key element of EL wire; it emits light when subjected to an AC field. The inner plastic sheath protects the phosphor and in some cases is used to filter the light produced by the phosphor, emphasizing certain colors. The outer plastic sheath provides further protection. Many phosphors are highly sensitive to moisture; the two sheaths together provide good protection against infiltration.
EL wire can be driven by any AC source. Power is applied between the inner conductor and the two outer wires (which are tied together). This applies an AC field across the phosphor, causing it to glow. A high voltage in the range of 100V is required to make the wire glow brightly. It can be produced from an inverter, from the mains (e.g. a wall outlet), from an audio amplifier, from a signal generator, etc. If the voltage is not high enough (as in the case of a medium power audio amplifier), it can be stepped up with a transformer. When the wire is connected to a high current source like the AC mains, a fuse and/or current limiting resistor is used for safety due to the danger of a short circuit.
EL wire acts as a capacitor, with capacitance proportional to the length of the wire segment. This means that given a constant voltage, power consumption is proportional to frequency. Light output is also roughly proportional to frequency. See the appropriate table for a more accurate guide to the relationship of light output to frequency and voltage.
The spectrum produced by some types of EL wire varies with the frequency of the applied power. Those that are filtered (have a colored inner sheath) vary less in color. The "aqua" ("ice blue") wire is most sensitive; its color can be varied from deep green to deep blue by varying the power frequency from 60 Hz to 6 kHz. Due to its capacitive nature, to maintain constant brightness as frequency is swept the voltage must also be varied, from high voltage at low frequency to a lower voltage at high frequency. [via the torche.com website; suggested by Glenn Easley, Seattle.]
Autotype, one of the world’s leading developers and manufacturers of film and chemical products, has launched a revolutionary new anti-reflective, anti-glare film that has been inspired from detailed research into the eye structure of night flying moths. Called Autoflex MARAG (MothEye Anti-Reflective, Anti-Glare), the new film has been designed for use in a wide range of applications, including flat panel displays, touch screen interfaces, electroluminescent lamps and lenses for mobile phones and PDAs, and can even be processed using the film insert moulding process.
Developed jointly by Autotype and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy in Germany, the new Autoflex film replicates the nano-structures found in the eyes of moths. These compound eye structures have evolved to collect as much light as possible without reflection, in order to prevent moths being detected by night time predators.
Manufactured using nano-replication techniques, the new film is the first of its kind to combine both anti-reflective and anti-glare properties, with a hardcoat finish that is resistant to scratches, chemicals and fingerprints and which has an exceptional level of optical clarity. The result is a tough, dimensionally stable and formable film that reflects less than 1% of visible light, regardless of viewing angle, and eliminates the problems of iridescence and light glare that are often associated with conventional display materials. [via the Autoflex website; suggested by Doug Harmon, New Orleans]
Using the most advanced technical procedures that the textile industry has to offer, Nanni Strada engineered a vibrant fabric that reacts to light. Out of this she constructed a religious garment that expresses the immateriality of sacredness.
"The invitation to rethink the casula, a ritual garment worn during religious ceremonies, provided a chance to take to the extreme an approach that I have unconsciously used in all my designs. Rather than working on the symbolic nature of the colours, I preferred to concentrate on the amount of light reflection. In this way I was able to work on the brilliantness and vibration of light. Gold has been used a great deal in sacred garments, but it is a metal that needs to be woven into the fabric. However, in modern times we see the use of a metallic yarn called Lurex. It is very shiny and used a lot in haute couture to decorate evening wear, producing results that are both sophisticatedand vulgar. My idea was to "laminate" the surface of the material in order to obtain an effect that is shiny and more metallic.
It is possible to alter the fabric's surface and give it the qualities of other materials (paper, plastic, metals) and/or transform it into a mutant material, creating a kind of process of crossbreeding. In the process of coupling, textile "leaves" or different materials are joined together. This fusion occurs by calendaring, passing the fabrics through cylinders that whirl round as well as altering the brightness simply by calibrating the number of passages and the speed of the cylinders. The different degrees of brilliance, levels of luminosity and the different perception linked to the vibration of the light are all important components of this design." - Nanni Strada. [via Domus October 2005; suggested by Midhat Delic, Seattle.]
IQ Glass transforms the cold surface of glass into a source of heating. Connected to the electrical wiring concealed within the walls of the room and frame of the window, IQ Glass heats spaces with radiant heat - a healthy, sumptuous heat comparable to that of the sun, minus UV rays. In single family residences, IQ Glass windows may be used as the sole heating source for an entire home.
Suitable for both retrofitting and new construction, IQ Glass can easily be installed in windows, doors, ceilings, walls, pools, and aquariums. The IQ Glass heating system is connected to and controlled by its own thermostat, although it may be connected to any thermostat on the market. IQ Glass may even be controlled remotely, such as from one's computer or car. A microprocessor option regulates the glass temperature at all times, ensuring optimal energy conservation.
A variety of glass and accompanying features are available. IQ Glass is guaranteed against moisture or condensation build up, as well as against an assimilation of dust particles in between the panes. [via the IQ Glass website; suggested by Sara Agrest, New York.]
