Dynamic Elements

eCloud hangs between gate 22 and 23 at the San Jose International Airport. This art installation consists of a series of polycarbonate tiles that use the same technology that you may have seen in restroom doors and elsewhere - non-electrified it is opaque, electrified it is transparent. Using this technology, the team interfaced the tiles with real time weather information from around the world. Every few seconds the program picks a city around the world, displays it's weather on a nearby display screen and changes the look of the installation based on the clouds in the sky of that city - the more clouds, the more opaque the tiles; the less clouds, the clearer. There are two videos on the website that show the effect.

Decker Yeadon, based out of New York, has created a new system for sun control in a building. We have seen automated, passive solar control in the form of irises of some sort before but this system uses nanotechnology to flex and relax a swirly system of polymer fins. The fins are coated in a silver film that delivers a small bit of electricity. When the sun hits it and heats it up, the fins expand to create more shade; when it cools down, it contracts to let in more light. The whole system would be sandwiched between two sheets of glass. Watch this video to really get a sense of the potential. Of course this system is still conceptual and there may be an inherent problem in having to coat virtually your whole facade in silver, but the technology is there - and think of how your building will sparkle!