The future of ambient lighting might lay in glowing walls, according to Philips. The company has announced its plans to develop wallpapers containing integrated LEDs. The luminous sound-absorbing textiles would glow in variety of colors accordingly to the user's requirements. To develop the luminous wallpaper panels, Philips is collaborating with customizable acoustic panels manufacturer Kvadrat Soft Cells, based in Denmark.
Soft Cells acoustic panels are flexible and can be tailored to fit a wide variety of interiors. "They can be rearranged and reupholstered to meet changing requirements, simply and quickly," the Kvadrat Soft Cells website says. Panels are mounted on an aluminum frame with a stretching mechanism, allowing the panel to remain an appropriate tension regardless of changes in temperature or humidity.
The Philips' LED illuminated texture wallpapers could provide designers with a variety of options to create unusual interiors, suiting the purpose (and atmosphere) of the chosen space. For example, the panels' function to change colors could be integrated into an audio system and respond accordingly to the music. Taking their sound-absorbing qualities into account, the Soft Cells panels could also dampen noises and soften echoes.
Although Philips has not announced any pricing and availability details at this point, glowing wallpapers certainly won't be an inexpensive, power-saving lighting solution for the home. The technology seems to be tailored more for corporate customers, and could be seen some time from now in luxurious interiors of hotels, shops and offices.
The video below is Philips' presentation of the new project:
