Innovation Lab busts out pixel-infused concrete display

Companies have been lighting up (and drawing attention to) simple brick walls for some time now, and while hitting up a game of Tetris is indeed novel, we're thinking the real profit resides in lightweight screens we use in front projection. This rock-hard display consists of not-so-average concrete with "embedded optical fibers, arranged as pixels, capable of transmitting natural as well as artificial light." When light is projected from the rear, the pixels illuminate to display imagery, which could certainly transform a vanilla office building into an ad-filled poster board. While we're not sure when we can expect these things to start popping up around here, Innovation Lab claims that orders are already backing up, and of course, there's always the live action video after the break to tide you over for now....

[Via We Make Money Not Art, thanks Naser A]

[Alcaron @ Nov 10th 2006 12:38PM]

You would think that would compromise the strength of the concrete...

[Parker @ Nov 10th 2006 2:55PM]

Good point. I wonder how much it would weaken the concrete. I think this concept would be great for animating the walls of buildings. But as another poster mentioned, it would need to be well out of reach, or indoors, in the lobby or something.

But in order for it to be a viable part of the building's structure, the integrity of the concrete is pretty important.

[John @ Nov 10th 2006 12:40PM]

It looks like a concrete picture tube.

And you thought glass was heavy...

[Mike @ Nov 10th 2006 12:59PM]

The fibers actually would increase strength. This will never go anywhere. The company that made the origional design, Litracon, already went out of business.

[Alcaron @ Nov 10th 2006 3:03PM]

I don't neccisarily think that is true. I get the idea of reinforcement, like we do with rebar now. But thats metal, not plastic or glass...I don't think adding plastic or glass to concrete would necessarily increase the strength of the material just because "something" is running through it.

[Someguy @ Nov 10th 2006 1:18PM]

I'd have to agree with James.
Not only for ad revenue, but from a corporate design standpoint. X company is doing reno in the front foyer. Why not build in a moving art piece. I would imagine that this could be retrofit into any number of concrete surface walls being built (not just a flat, bland, grey slab). It would be an interesting addition. walk into an office to see a huge logo displayed on the wall.

It's also not technology likely to be used by average joe convenience store as I'd imagine the price tag for installation will be pretty high.

[kap @ Nov 10th 2006 1:24PM]

another crasy money-sack idea... damn, I can't bear that such things are done only for ad!

[Matt B @ Nov 10th 2006 1:26PM]

What is the dead pixel count limit if I had to return the building?

[Jayboogy @ Nov 10th 2006 1:27PM]

I want them to show a picture of a dude giving peds the finger and i wanna sit back and watch to see the pain in the guys face who throws the first punch.

[db @ Nov 10th 2006 1:53PM]

What a temptation for graffiti artists and vandals! Outdoors or in a mall, those screens would get "tagged" or postered in a minute unless they were installed way up out of reach. Wanna clean your big screen with a wire brush and paint remover?

[jnasato @ Nov 10th 2006 2:04PM]

Wow, that's pretty badass. I wanna see animated buildings! Or if optical fibers were embedded into everything, the world could be all trippy.

[Joe Talerico @ Nov 10th 2006 2:17PM]

What would I want to use this for?

[James @ Nov 10th 2006 1:04PM]

It's about advertising potential, Joe. This isn't a technology for the consumer to buy. It's an innovative answer to the question, "How can we transform this empty space into revenue?"

. . . I think it looks pretty amazing.

[Michael Hayes @ Nov 10th 2006 3:30PM]

No that's true now that I think of it, however if there was rebar structure in the concrtete then the fibers wouldn't weaken the concrete any noticeable amount.

[Alcaron @ Nov 10th 2006 3:33PM]

Which begs the question...how viable is it to have rebar AND these fibers running through the same concrete? I imagine the fibers don't have to be straight, so I could see being able to kind of wind them through the rebar...but I am just speculating.

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Nov 10th 2006 6:08PM]

Alcaron -- yes, you are speculating. You're talking about structural concrete -- walls of a building are not usually structural.

[Zack @ Nov 10th 2006 5:36PM]

this isnt anything new, they created the cement bricks with the fiber optic tubes to transmit light through it without losing any durability in the concrete, its still strong as a solid concrete block, this is the same thing with a projector providing natural light once again in a dark enviroment, put a flash light against it, it will do the same thing the logo did. Now to make it even better, without using a flash light or projected light source, one could make a pcb board with an array of LCD lamps and program it to display light through a computerized, less heat efficient manner.

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Nov 10th 2006 6:06PM]

Parker -- in the vast majority of the buildings nowadays, the concrete is *not* part of the structure. Steel makes up the structure, while a thin concrete fascade keeps the weather out.

[jason @ Nov 10th 2006 9:41PM]

and if the wires/fiber optics need to be replaced how easy and costly is it.

some things are so stupid they shouldn't even be put onto paper

[marc @ Nov 11th 2006 11:12AM]

ok, first off the plastic of the fibers WOULD weaken the concrete. Typically concrete has a 3-4 ksi (ksi = 1000lbs per square inch) strength in compression. The plastic probably has a much lower strength. Steel reinforcement (typically 60 ksi) of the concrete is used to transfer tension forces internal to the concrete (imagine concrete as a pile of dirt, strong in compression, weak in tension). As the plastic fibers run in the same direction, they would make the concrete weak in compression in on the perpendicular axis and would likely allow it to shear more easily (think of wood which has fibers in one direction and therefore behaves differently in different directions). Also you would have to have some steel reinforcement (as a minimum, some is necessary to keep the concrete from cracking when it shrinks after curing), so some of the fibers would have to be moved out of place.

There is such a thing as "fiber reinforced concrete" (i worked on this as part of my master's thesis), but it uses randomly oriented high strength plastic fibers. I'm assuming (based on the TV like layout of the setup) that the fibers in this system are not randomly oriented and therefore it's not equivalent.

that said, you could probably use this as part of precast concrete outer walls (typically this is the wall which fills in the empty space on steel or concrete frame buildings). Since these elements are non-structural they would not have to be designed for intense loads (other then wind loads). However, they would still require some reinforcement.

All that said, i can't really see this system as being less expensive then using conventional construction and covering the building with an LCD or equivalent. But it sure does look cool

[kezeka @ Nov 15th 2006 6:03PM]

Last time i checked, buildings stood up without concrete... the concrete is simply there to enclose the structure much like a previous poster mentioned. Ever seen a building with only glass sides?