Ever wanted to turn your windows clear or opaque at the touch of a button? With SONTE film and an iPhone app, that might as well become something real in the near future.
I must have missed the presentation of SONTE Film at CES 2013, but now that the project hit Kickstarter, I’m not going to miss this for the world. SONTE Film is the 21st century answer to the curtains that have been around for thousands of years (or so it seems), and it will surely be enjoyed by privacy freaks.
The best thing about SONTE Film is that it can be easily installed on your existing windows, with no further changes necessary. The smart blinds are in fact a plastic sandwich with polymer-dispersed liquid crystals as the middle layer.
Sonte co-founder and CEO Bernard Kwan stated: “Our goal is to introduce the technology to the mass market and open their minds to the plethora of design solutions Sonte Film offers. We’re reaching out to developers as well as consumers.”
As mentioned in the title, these digital shades make use of Wi-Fi to turn the windows clear or opaque. Hence, it is not mandatory to own an iPhone to switch SONTE Film on or off, as an Android device would work just fine.
SONTE Film offers more than just the sought after privacy. The digital shades provide UV and infrared protection, not to mention that they also cut down the energy costs. Another possible strong point is that if the window is big enough, it could be easily turned into a projection screen by making it opaque. This would be great in schools and universities where the projected presentations are rarely seen properly because of bad lighting conditions.
For the time being, these smart blinds are on the expensive side of things, as $199 would get backers a 1m by 1m non-Wi-Fi film, while pledging $234 or more would get them the Wi-Fi enabled version. There are also some special prices for early birds, but it remains to be seen if the project will be funded, at all. Presuming that further advancements will be made in the technology that is used by the SONTE film, the prices will drop and more people will be able to afford such innovative home interior devices.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEr5wXzAL-U]
If you liked this post, please check the Mimicry lamp that reflects shade according to your choice and these 16 cool window shades.
