Today’s Cribcandy has a list of some of the most recent innovations in LED lighting from being directly embedded into fabrics, bathroom tiles and translucent glass.
LED’s are currently only in widespread use for applications with high maintenance costs such as traffic lights, but as their performance increases over the next 5 to 10 years, they will eventually replace standard home and office lighting and transform the way that interiors can be designed.
Aside from the tiny size of LED’s (or the even newer LECs (Light Emitting Capacitors), LED’s are approaching the lifespan of standard building materials, making it cost effective to embed them directly in structural components and architectural finishes.
The biggest change, however, is that because the currents involved are tiny, LED lighting can be directly controlled, digitally, meaning that there are almost unlimited effects that can be produced cheaply and controlled wirelessly.
Given that transparent wiring can be embedded in glass complete with transparent solar cells it should be possible to create windows with self-powered, embedded lighting to be any color or shade, display any image or be completely translucent.
Cribcandy – a thumbnail bookmark blog with the best stuff for your home