Light Transmitting Concrete

[Elidor]

Concrete casts new light in dull rooms
Light transmitting concrete is set to go on sale later this year.

The days of dull, grey concrete could be about to end. A Hungarian architect has combined the world’s most popular building material with optical fiber from Schott to create a new type of concrete that transmits light.

A wall made of “LitraCon” allegedly has the strength of traditional concrete but thanks to an embedded array of glass fibers can display a view of the outside world, such as the silhouette of a tree, for example.

“Thousands of optical glass fibers form a matrix and run parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of every block,” explained its inventor Áron Losonczi. “Shadows on the lighter side will appear with sharp outlines on the darker one. Even the colours remain the same. This special effect creates the general impression that the thickness and weight of a concrete wall will disappear.”



http://optics.org/articles/news/10/3/10/1

[Enraged_Ape]

1. That is pretty darn cool

if I do say so myself.

:)

[Fargin Ice Hole]

2. trip out. n/t

[tridim]

3. Really cool!

I wonder if there's a problem at night with the lights on inside? You might not want to install it in a bedroom. Wonder how much it'll cost?

[Syrinx]

4. someone with a slashdot account should post this there

It's really pretty neat.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Done

Let's see if they accept it.

[Elidor]

13. What is slashdot?

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Very interesting...

and I wonder how the cost compares with other wall material.

They've been ading fiberglass to concete to increase strength and resistance to weathering for years, so this isn't and entirely new concept. The translucency is the thing here.

I doubt anyone will want too many walls made of this stuff. People are already weirded out by glass block walls. Know how freaky it is to see a shadow walking by and not be able to see who or what it is?

[Occulus]

6. I understand the sentiment of your last point

but this could easily be integrated in unobtrusive ways. This could be very, very cool inside a home or apartment as well, if used sparingly.

This made my eyes pop as much as electronic paper did when it was first unveiled. What I'm waiting for is a variable transparency wall. That will be cool, and this is the first step.

[KC]

7. That

is really neat.

I'd freak out though if I saw someone standing behind one of those walls at night, but a tree would be cool.

KC

[lazarus]

8. Step two

These are fiber optics, folks. Step two: Add a camera to the ends, and you get colour.

Or hook them up to a computer, and you can program light effects, such as waves and patterns.

The future is now. :D

[Elidor]

9. Kick for the day shift

[AngryAmish]

10. gimmie gimmie gimmie

now

[Lizz612]

11. Cool!

Thats really creative! If you notice it doesn't stop the wall from casting a shadow but would still really lighten up a room.