by the OLED UX Team
Imagine, light as a material…now imagine that material in flexible form. With the continuing advancements in lighting technology, the idea of a flexible lighting panel may have seemed like “a thing of the future.” However, lighting manufacturers continue to respond to the demands of their customer base and the creative needs from designers to express freely.
The call for a flexible light may have been answered and the future may be closer than imagined.
The recently launched LumiCurve Wave from OLEDWorks, designed with Corning® Willow® glass as the paper-thin foundation, is the next generation of OLED lighting panels. It conforms and bends, enhancing the way light itself wraps and cloaks. The Wave is so slim that the panel is indeed nothing more than the presentation of radiant materiality – bright soft light, full spectrum, hundreds of lumens for the weight of just five pennies.
LIGHT HAS A MAGICAL QUALITY
Light, in its enchanted presence, floats invisibly through the air then wraps around you revealing color, texture and space, all while engaging emotion .
Peter Ngai , VP Technology-Acuity Brands and 2016 Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Medal winner for OLED technical achievement, describes OLED lighting as the very embodiment of this mystical, elusive quality. OLED is “a noble light, simple, pure and honest” and “creates an emotional response” that is unique. With OLED, Peter observes, light has transformed itself into a material.
With the introduction of flexible lighting solutions like the LumiCurve Wave functionality now expands beyond illumination. Space and weight savings can be significant for many applications, especially given that OLEDs are cool-to-the-touch and unencumbered by hefty heatsinks.
FLEXIBLE LIGHT IN USE
While it’s one thing to imagine a flexible lighting solution, Brooklyn-based Rich Brilliant Willing (RBW) and Germany-based WALO-TL have brought real applications to life using the technology in a variety of luminaires. Utilizing the unique flexible qualities of the LumiCurve Wave, RBW meshes the OLED panels in a custom knit material, bolstering the buoyancy of the fixture. WALO-TL takes a modular approach with the Wave, enabling end-user configuration and personal connection.
It is not enough to inspire the design community with the captivating light form and quality. A light source must operate reliably, efficiently and predictably. The LumiCurve Wave taps into the magical essence of light. It is the Wave of the future. Jump in and wrap yourself in pure radiance and imagine the possibilities with a flexible OLED light.
