Posts filed under 'New Materials'
NEC Corp. said Dec. 7 it has developed a thin, pliable battery that can be charged in about 30 seconds. The new product, 4 centimeters square and 0.3 millimeter thick, can light a light-emitting diode for about 20 minutes after being fully charged.
NEC Paper-thin Battery
I can think of hundreds of applications for technology like this and especially coming with the new e-paper and flexible display technologies coming onto the market in the coming few years. Unfortunately it only has a relatively short lifespan but could be ideal for wearable devices.
Fujitsu e-Paper - Bendable Color Electronic Paper
via gizmodo
December 15th, 2005
elementlabs
One of the many interactive hypersurface technology companies on the market.
Below are two of their products the Versa TILE and Versa PIXEL
Versa TILE
Video - I feel a little sorry for the kid.
How does it work?
Each tile is edge-lit by LEDs to give smooth light output. Like building blocks, tiles can be placed together in any configuration. Proven LED video display technology lets Versa TILE produce a broad spectrum of rich, saturated colors—as well as flesh tones, browns, grays and other color not possible with conventional lighting technology.
How is it controlled?
Each single Versa TILE represents one pixel on the screen of a PC or Mac. What you see on the computer display is what you get on Versa TILE—whether video or still images. Content can be created using any graphics program or adapted from widely available stock imagery.
Versa TILE is currently available in two versions to suit both rental applications and permanent installations. Sizes for each version include 50 cm x 50 cm (25 tile) and 1 meter x 1 meter (100 tile).
Versa PIXEL
What I think is great about this new product is its ability to be used for flowing architectural spaces.
Versa PIXEL is a new product line from Element Labs released at PLASA 2005. Its distributed architecture gives designers complete freedom over pixel shape and placement - including intricate 3-D arrangements.
December 9th, 2005
Not that I would consider carpet my first choice for interior design, its interesting now how more and more inteligent systems are being introduced into furnishing products such as carpets.
Carpets with inbuilt intelligence can now run office functions such as climate control, alarm systems and guidance technology. A partnership between two German firms, carpet maker Vorwerk Teppichwerke and semiconductor specialist Infineon Technologies has created a ‘Thinking Carpet’, equipped with sensors able to manage a range of control functions in the office of the future
For instance, pressure sensors can report an alarm as soon as people enter a security zone. In the process, intelligent software solutions are able to analyse the signals, even individually. Thus an alarm is triggered, for example, only when traces of movement commence on a window or an emergency exit, but not at free-access entrances. Security zones can be individually defined and individually controlled on a time-frame basis as well. As soon as registered signals are additionally relayed to a security control centre, the point of alarm (break-in or fire) can be localised precisely in a matter of seconds. Besides this, pressure sensors in the carpet can also be utilised as door-openers and light switches, or as electronic counters for people, too.
In combination with shatterproof LED modules, the ‘Thinking Carpet’ also becomes a controllable guidance system. For example, in this case light-emitting diodes in the carpet mark the shortest route to an emergency exit. The combination of different sensory functions (pressure, temperature and motion) can additionally enable the detection of people lying motionless on the floor, triggering a call for emergency help.
from wmmna
November 14th, 2005
Following on from my Buckypaper post a kinetic application for buckminsterfullerene is being developed Researchers at Rice University. Kinetic engineering at the smallest level has led to the construction of a one-molecule car, complete with working chassis, axles, and wheels! A car a little wider than a strand of DNA!
While other groups have created single molecules shaped like automobiles, these have moved by slipping and sliding across a surface. In contrast, the Rice University nanocar has carefully designed carbon-rich sections of the molecule that provide a pivoting suspension and freely rotating axles. Its wheels are hollow spheres composed entirely of buckminsterfullerene Carbon Atoms.
This means that the nanocar functions much like a real automobile, moving forward at an angle of 90 degrees to its axles as its wheels turn.
November 9th, 2005
Nano technology will transform architecture in the not too distant future. Buckypaper owes its name to Buckminsterfullerene, or Carbon 60—a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds make it twice as hard as a diamond. And Buckminsterfullerene of course owes its name to the ledgend architect, inventor, engineer, mathematician, poet and cosmologist Buckminster Fuller.
Buckypaper a material 10 times lighter than steel—but 250 times stronger—would be a dream come true for any architect/engineer. If this material also had amazing properties that made it highly conductive of heat and electricity, it would start to sound like something out of a science fiction novel. Yet one Florida State University research group, the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T), is working to develop real-world applications for just such a material.
Full Article
November 9th, 2005
Okay so concrete is a little dry but flexible architecture isn’t and who knows what the future of flexible concrete could bring to interactive architecture
A new type of fiber-reinforced bendable concrete will be used by University of Michigan scientists for the first time.
The new concrete looks like regular concrete, but is 500 times more resistant to cracking and 40 percent lighter in weight. Tiny fibers that comprise about 2 percent of the mixture’s volume partly account for its performance. Also, the materials in the concrete itself are designed for maximum flexibility. Because of its long life, the Engineered Cement Composites (ECC) are expected to cost less in the long run, as well.
November 1st, 2005
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