Mad scientists over at Philips Research always come up with cool experiments that you'd love to see in your home, but find it hard to find any practicality in them. Their latest effort brings an interconnecting flexible substrate with red, green an blue LEDs. They call it photonic textiles.
When the substrate is applied underneath a soft fabric, the light diffuses resulting in a more continuous light source emitting a soft glow. My question is, where does the the heat from the LEDs go and how is it dissipated?
One possible application is light therapy. We've all heard about the thousands of depressed people in the far north. Not enough sun and the mind begins to wander. (Sorry plankton, I know you're Swedish but you know it's TRUE!). Light therapy fools the mind into resetting it's internal clock and is traditionally administered in a controlled environment. Maybe now people can take soft comfy pillows home that can help their mind and bodies while they sleep at night. If this ain't a valid use of the technology, then there's only one other option . . .
Ikea. I see truck loads of pillows, blankets, curtains etc . . . made from photonic textiles. In fact, I predict it to be a huge hit with college students and Korean girls as they'll be able to get lighting and curtains all in one product. Saves money, saves time. Ikea, if you buy into this technology, I expect you to give electroplankton a reasonable share of the profits. That's all we ask.
