While most people will be familiar with LED lights and lamps as a result of their application in traditional fixtures, a new partnership between Philips and Desso could see this technology enter the world of carpets, according to Wired.
Philips has a history of working with LEDs, just as Desso is known for its expertise in the flooring industry, but when the two join forces they are going to create something quite unique in the form of light transmissive carpeting.
While there may be the potential to use carpets embedded with LED lights for the purposes of entertainment, the two firms actually have much more practical and important uses in mind.
The idea is that the carpets would not just provide illumination, in the same way as the traditional Led lights. There are many online venues that you can look to see examples of popular LED lights currently in use. Big wholesalers like RS has a solid range. These new lights would not operate like LED lamps available at RS Components site, but would in fact be able to act almost like a dedicated LED display, capable of being programmed to showcase content which would usually be found on LED signs.
Versatile Deployment
Philips has created a number of artist’s impressions of what the transmissive carpeting might look like. In one it shows an airport terminal, with carpets directing people towards the particular gates at which they can catch their flight.
Another indicates that the lighting might be useful in a cinema, allowing guests to find their way to their seats in the dark without any issues. There is even one which indicates that hotels could create illuminated Do Not Disturb signs to shine outside of rooms to give the guests within the peace they desire.
The safety benefits of this type of LED technology would also be noteworthy. In emergencies they could be used to guide people safely to the exits of buildings without needing to be constantly illuminated when things are normal.
The transmissive carpets might also be able to serve as additions to the ambient lighting within buildings, complementing existing systems with different intensities and colours of illumination.
Future Plans
Philips spokesperson Ed Huibers said that humans are naturally drawn to light, which is why embedding LEDs into carpets will be beneficial for businesses in a number of ways.
Guiding people through buildings using LEDs on the floor is certainly an intriguing idea and hopefully the partnership between the two firms will bear fruit, with an official launch and a branding of this product expected to be carried out at some point in 2014.
A variety of facilities and businesses will be able to take advantage of this kind of technology, while the fact that LED bulbs can be built into a carpet and presumably survive years of being subjected to footfall and other impacts, speaks volumes about the durability and resilience of the technology.
While LED transmissive carpets may not end up being a staple of the domestic environment, they could crop up in conference centres, theatres, hotels and other places which are open to the public, putting traditional displays and signs at risk of being rendered redundant at some point in the future.
Image credit : http://www.flickr.com/photos/bfishadow/4832428305/
