Archive for the ‘home’ Category

Bathtub lighting effects

Friday, April 11th, 2008
Ever mindful of new ways to sell electronics to the public, the consumer electronics company, Philips has come up with a way to make bath time even more fun.

The company's design consists of a bathtub studded with red, yellow and green LEDs that can make water appear almost any colour. The LEDs are controlled by a computer that can be programmed to produce all kinds of special lighting effects.

One idea is to synchronise the colour of the bath LEDs with one in the tap, making the bath water the same colour as the water flowing in. Another idea is to change colours in the bath from the bottom up, in way that makes it look as if the bath is filling with coloured light.

The possibilities are limited only by the bather's imagination and the amount of time they can devote to programming the system before the water gets cold.

Read the full bath lighting patent application.

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

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Copy-and-paste lighting

Friday, March 7th, 2008
Every computer user is familiar with the copy-and-paste function of word processors and other applications.

Now Philips wants to apply a similar idea to interior lighting. The company says that creating a particular lighting effect is difficult because most consumers cannot measure the colour and quality of light they like, let alone reproduce it.

As a solution the firm has come up with a light with an inbuilt sensor that can be pointed at a particular illuminated area to measure the intensity, color, hue and saturation. That information can be used to alter the output of a second lamp to reproduce the same lighting effect elsewhere.
The system also incorporates a database so that settings can be stored for later use.

Read the full copy-and-paste lighting patent application.

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

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Shape-shifting dishwasher

Monday, March 3rd, 2008
A problem with conventional dishwashers is that to save water, energy and detergent, people wait until the machine is full before switching it on.
But if the dishwasher is in a single-person household, or one where people often eat out, it can take several days for the dishwasher to fill. This can lead to hygiene problems and offensive smells, and to food drying onto dishes, which is then harder to remove.

Now Paul Frigout from Coventry University has an answer in the form of a dishwasher with a movable partition. This changes the size of the washing compartment so it can accommodate small or large loads.
When the dishwasher is switched on, it washes only those dishes on one side of the partition. The other area could be used to store clean dishes, or can be used for an alternate cycle of washing while the first section is still drying.
The system is perfect for the person living alone, says Frigout.

Read the full shape-shifting dishwasher patent application.

Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant

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