Slashdot Mirror
Perfumed, Glowing Cloth
namtap writes "A story on NPR's All Things Considered discusses a light emitting fabric: The costumes onstage in Washington, D.C., might look a little brighter
this opera season -- or at least, much more colorful. All Things
Considered senior host Robert
Siegel talks with Alberto Spiazzi, costume designer for Washington
Opera's production of Aida, about luminex, a self-illuminating fabric." Makarand writes "A new technology will soon
enable scents to be woven into fabrics. The
technology, called Sensory Perception Technologies (SPT), will allow
particles of moisturisers, deodorants and fragrances to be
woven directly into fabrics.
Scented tiny droplets contained inside miniature waterproof particles
are woven into fabrics to be released upon activation by
movement or touch. The fabrics are dry cleanable and machine washable."
A true must-have for geeks everywhere...
Anyone remember the shirts that would change color with heat? I loved how the armpits would always be one color and the rest of the shirt would be the other.
.. until they can weave febreeze into fabric?
This could be great for children, road workers or other similar people who have a tendency to get too close to cars in the dark or need to be seen for other reasons.
.: Max Romantschuk
So now I won't have to worry about losing my underwear in the dark, and it will always smell like flowers?
Mmm scratch and sniff girls.
Oh wait, I think my uncle Tom has been scratch and sniff for like 15 years... Not that you would want to.
$280/yd (and a 50 yard minimum order) seems a little steep for fabric with strands of optical fiber woven in -- you still have to hook up the light sources yourself, probably after you've cut your pattern. Seems most people capable of making anything more complicated than a tablecloth out of this stuff could probably weave their own.
--paul
-- Every time you kill a kitten, God masturbates.
You linked to NPR. Did you get permission?
I emailed them about it. Here is the reply.
Thank you for your interest in Luminex.
We are Zuzka, the exclusive Distribution & Product Development team for Luminex in the US & Canada.
Yes, the optical fiber fabric is available for purchase!
The minimum is 50 yards per fabric type.
The fabric is woven with optical fiber (and is illuminated by LED's) into the following fabrics:
- Double sided LED polyester (sheer quality/ 7 colors) 58 "w $280/yd
- Lycra 58 "w $280/yd
- Super Velo (extra densely woven optical fibers) TK
LED colors available: white, blue, red, green, &yellow
Standard fabrics allow the LED color to be different every 18"
Double sided fabrics are capable of having two different colored LED's merging into the same fibers to create additional colors
Orders for quantity and for custom made sample products (i.e: pillows, jackets, etc.) can processed by phone and finished to your specs.
Yardage Prices do not include rechargeable 3.6v battery and recharging kit.
all SAMPLES must be purchased: $234-364/yd
battery: $24 per battery
recharger kit: $26 per recharger.
weaves available include 7 kinds of poly's: white, blue, silver, gold, red, green, cream & black
Delivery is currently 4-8 weeks
please do not hesitate to contact me for more info:
Christopher Berger
Zuzka for Fabricology Inc.
37 East 18th Street, Suite 10
New York, NY 10003
T 212. 260.1876
F 212. 260.7963
chris@zuzka.com
www.zuzka.com
if people are going to start pushing for this with built in deodorants and perfumes to hide the fact that it will be worn over and over by people with poor hygiene, why would we care that it is [a] dry-cleanable or [b] machine washable? C'mon, think of the target audience in the writeup!
Yeah, it's always a good idea to dress with a little flare.
KFG
Why not try electroluminscent wire? I bought a bunch a couple years ago for a quick and dirty Tron halloween outfit. Not only was it a smashing sucess which got me more free drinks than I could handle thus creating a drunken smashed Tron, but I'm sure my night visibility was amazing. I didn't get run over once!
Even the cheapest elwire can be bought with an sequencer so you could build a simple circuit and make your clothes tell drivers if you intend to turn right or left, like giant body sized blinkers.