subject: Is This The End of The Curtain? [print this page] Is This The End of The Curtain? Is This The End of The Curtain?
It feels like these days there is a consistent requirement for completely new styles or various takes on everyday products and it seems that the humble curtain is no different.
Here are 5 of the fresh choices coming into the market to take on the conventional curtain:
Liquid Crystal Curtains
The technology behind the 'Flexible Liquid Crystal Curtain' seems pretty simple, but the process of it work seems much more complex. This curtain is constucted from a flexible film that you fit over your windows. It is filled up with liquid crystals and will become clear when electricity is run through it.
Magnetic Curtains
Now these type of curtains look very interesting. They are rather big pieces of fabric with small magnets embedded throughout, allowing them to bunch up and stick together. I'm confident these would look rather smart if you had huge windows to utilise them, but they probably wouldn't look as good on regular sized windows.
Curtains Made From Computer Code
ASCII-Code curtains, create images onto material using the codes that make up text in computers. The ASCII code is a type of computer language based on the English alphabet. So these curtains are made from computer language. They can generate really impressive images like a silhouette, so it may look like a huge tree beyond your window for instance. This one is quite an innovative method to mix technological advancement with furnishing.
Solar Power Curtains
The creation of architect Sheila Kennedy, this curtain, that is in the design stage, has small versatile solar energy panels that are part of the curtain. The thought is that any power the curtain takes from the sun's rays is saved and channels right through to other electrical equipment in your home. If this type of design comes to fruition, textiles will soon have the capacity to take the energy from the sun and change it into electricity.
Foliage Curtains
Some of the most progressive and unique types of curtain are not even made of material anymore! A company in Japan designed " eco-friendly curtains" that are created from plants stretching thousands of feet all over buildings, in a bid to keep them cool, and keep greenhouse gas emissions low.
Using extremely technical equipment (that looks too difficult to try and explain), they were able to confirm that the environmentally friendly curtains led to reduced external wall temp by 15 degrees Centigrade (27 degrees F) when compared with walls that were unshaded.
At the same time, the eco-friendly curtains are working to absorb around 24,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions (which is a lot!)
So, Are These The Curtains Of The Near Future?
So, bearing this all in mind, I wonder how many people will put these curtains into their homes? I would probably say that many of these concepts are more geeky gadgets rather than sensible improvements to your decorations, but you never know...
