Wearing bright orange or silver reflective safety gear may indeed help motorists see you at night, but a lot of people still prefer more fashionable colors like black. If you're such a person, then you might be interested in Vollebak's new Black Light sports gear – it's all-black, yet it reflects spots of white light.
The Black Light lineup is a layering system that consists of a T-shirt, base layer, mid layer and jacket. All of the pieces are claimed to be lightweight, soft, stretchy and breathable. Additionally, they're all festooned with a pattern of matt black dots.
Not particularly noticeable in the daylight, each of these dots has over 60,000 microscopic black glass spheres embedded in its surface. At night, these reflect light such as that emitted by car headlights, causing each dot to appear bright white.
Additionally, the dots aren't just dispersed uniformly across the surface of the garment. Instead, they're located at the wearer's joints – the elbows, wrists, shoulders and hips. According to Vollebak, when drivers see the white spots arranged in such a pattern, their brain will instantly connect the dots and realize that it's looking at a person, plus it will be able to ascertain their speed and trajectory.
The clothing is designed so that at least eight dots will always be visible from any angle, which reportedly should be enough to provide the brain with the information it needs.
Black Light is available now, with prices ranging from US$95 for the T-shirt to $645 for the jacket. And if you're interested in a bike with paint that works sort of the same way, check out the Lumen.
Source: Vollebak