Smart Glass: Window Treatments of the Future

Cell technology is changing the way we live our lives. Now, everything is instantaneous and easily manipulated with the touch on the finger. Contemporary tech has even entered the household, building our homes smarter, more efficient, and more personalized. The volume of the home theater system, the temperature of your house, even the color plus brightness of your light bulbs-all of these things are now manageable by mobile applications. But some manufacturers are thinking, "Why halt there? " There are so many more household appliances and basics to turn "smart, " and the glass in your windows might be the next to catch on.

Smart glass is one of those shades you would expect to see in a sci-fi film, but it happens to be real and being manufactured as you read this. The window can automatically adjust its tint based on the angle of your sun, but there is also a mobile app that allows users to regulate it themselves. There are a variety of different tint settings to choose from, that produces smart glass one of the most versatile, customizable, and efficient curtains available. The glass is double-paned, and the inside can be lined with an almost impossibly thin film of electrochromic paint. This special paint is applied with water after the glass receives a heating treatment at 900 degrees centigrade. Then the magic begins.

To explain the science lightly, ions in the material move across the paint layer when charged with an electrical current. This movement causes it to release electrons in atoms, which gives the effect of the shade. The intensity of the movement and the alignment of the electrons affect the level of tint, and the direction of the movement can help determine whether the glass becomes clearer or more opaque. The process as well blocks out heat, which could end up saving households and company office spaces alike lots of money on HVAC energy expenditures.
As far as availability goes, various manufacturers have already completed many installations over the past few years. Most of the clients are corporate practices housed in glass buildings that take heavy beatings from the sun and suffer large energy costs due to this fact. The smart glass window treatments alleviate that issue, allowing it to be a worthy investment in the long run-but that's not most of it does. Users are finding that the glass's opaque settings supply an ideal backdrop for rear projections, a useful feature pertaining to companies that rely on these techniques for presentations. This also starts up new doors for retail clients, who can use estimations for advertising and increased customer experience. Further, some brilliant glass manufacturers even offer integration with touch screen outer surface, hinting at an imminent shift in the way employees interact with their whole work spaces and the way retail consumers shop.
Brilliant glass is making homes smarter, stores more exciting, and corporate spaces greener. Panels have already been installed all over the country, out of California to Louisiana. Keep your eyes peeled for smart glass as part of your neck of the woods as the technology grows and becomes more widely taken.