It comes as no surprise when people discover that their home is alive. Serving as the setting for their lives, the home begins to take an active part, and the relationship grows as homeowners grow to know it better. Never has this interactive capacity of the home been so thoroughly evident as now. Digital technologies enable us to adjust the thermostat from far away on vacation, to light the driveway just before we arrive home, to request a particular musical selection in the family room. The connection has never been more complete or more lively.
A new dimension of this relationship comes to light when people discover the wonders of smart glass. Whether it is the wow factor or the wisdom of energy savings that first brings smart glass to folks’ attention, what they discover when they look into it often seems astonishing.
What Makes Smart Glass Smart
Sometimes it was saving on the energy bill that first brought smart glass to a homeowners’ attention. More and more, as its enhancements became better known, it has become the moods and the moments that smart glass can inspire that brings interest to the dynamic role that a home’s windows and skylights can assume.
From a technical standpoint, smart glass is a special kind that responds to electric current by varying its properties from clear to opaque – and any stage in-between. Whether it is an office conference room that goes from open transparency to complete privacy or a bathroom bay window that transforms from a scenic viewpoint to a private refuge for relaxation, smart glass can impart an eye-popping or jaw-dropping experience when it is first experienced. Homeowners tell us that a little taste of that wow factor never leaves them when they exercise the control that smart glass puts in their hands.
What Makes Smart Glass Possible
PDLC film makes smart glass work. The initials stand for Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal, a form of liquid crystal technology that changes its degree of transparency in response to heat, light, or electrical impulse.
Passive PDLC film encapsulates polymers that adjust automatically to heat or light, and this technology is usually applied to installations where energy savings are the objective. Active PDLC technology adds electronic control, making it possible for you to make light, shade, transparency, or privacy at the touch of a button – or even in response to a voice command.
Just Imagine
All the most interesting design trends of the past 150 years have had to do with making windows more like a frame for enjoying the outdoors, and less like something to be draped or shaded, or heavily curtained. Smart glass windows or skylights are the ultimate destination of this voyage, giving you the options of making the outdoors appear and disappear according to your own design at any moment of the day or night. Let’s get together and talk about the possibilities.
