Tiles

Oyster mushrooms and bits of bamboo sound more at home on a Chinese menu than stuck to the wall, but scientists have used this mix to make aesthetically pleasing tiles with bumps and textures that help regulate temperature much like elephant skin does.

Using a temperature-driven "wax motor," researchers have created an adaptive roof tile system that helps keep a room at a comfortable 18 °C (65 °F). It delivers an extraordinary 3.1X reduction in cooling energy consumption, and 2.6X for heating.

UK tech firm Pavegen has been harvesting pedestrian power with floor tiles that convert the kinetic energy of footsteps into electricity since 2009. Today, the firm has launched a new version of the tiles and, in addition to being more efficient, they are able to capture footfall data.

Pavegen Systems and Schneider Electric partnered to install energy harvesting tiles across a stretch of the course at the 2013 Paris Marathon.

UrbanTiles are a window blind concept that incorporate a small solar panel that can be flipped to reveal a light emitting OLED screen.

Glass tiles from Swedish company, Soltech Energy, allow the sun to heat air that is used to heat the house and cut energy bills.

Queen's University's Human Media Lab has unveiled a board game where images are projected onto the cards.

September 22, 2006 “We change our clothing, handbags and shoes with the season, why not our tile?” posits Nancy Epstein, CEO of Artistic Tile , and head of ne

June 17, 2005 Italian ceramic tile manufacturer Gambarelli has produced a remarkable new tile that catalyses a reaction with pollution to break it down to salt