photochromic
Latest
MIT’s color-changing ink could let you customize your shoes
Imagine if, rather than buy your favorite shoes in blue or red, you could buy one pair of shoes and change the color depending on how you feel each day. Maybe you'd decide to add multicolored flames or zebra print. A new, reprogrammable ink might let you do just that. PhotoChromeleon Ink, developed by MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), can change the color or pattern of an object when exposed to UV light.
University of Tokyo turns real paper and ink into a display, could share doodles from a distance (video)
Forget e-paper: if the University of Tokyo's Naemura Lab has its way, we'll interact with the real thing. The division's new research has budding artists draw on photochromic paper with Frixion's heat-sensitive ink, turning the results into something a computer can manipulate. A laser 'erases' the ink to fix mistakes or add effects, and an ultraviolet projector overhead can copy any handiwork, fill in the gaps or print a new creation. The prototype is neither high resolution nor quick -- you won't be living out fantasies of a real-world A-Ha music video -- but the laser's accuracy (down to 0.0001 inches) has already led researchers to dream of paper-based, Google Docs-style collaboration where edits in one place affect a tangible document somewhere else. It's hard to see truly widespread adoption in an era where we're often trying to save trees instead of print to them, but there's an undeniable appeal to having a hard copy that isn't fixed in time.
Electrochromic sunglasses change color on demand
We'll admit, we didn't think MyDo's Bururu vibrating spectacles would be topped anytime soon, and while the University of Washington's smart sunglasses don't snatch the crown outright, they certainly make a solid case. The admittedly gaudy prototype certainly isn't the most attractive eyewear we've ever seen, but researchers are insisting that we focus on the electrochromic material that enables on demand color / tint changing rather than the bulky frames. The film can purportedly alter its transparency depending on the electric current that flows through it, essentially giving athletes and motorists an easy way to instantly adjust the level of reflection and tint depending on the ever-changing circumstances around them. Touted as "more active and more intelligent" that existing specs, this watch-battery-powered device allows the wearer to alter the shade by simply spinning a wee dial on the arm, and while we wish we could tell you that U-Dub's swank new specs would be arriving before the bright summer rays, it'll be quite "a few years" before these hit commercialization.[Via Primidi]
