My daughter Genevieve brought home a pencil that changes from green to yellow when rubbed. After a while it reverts back to the original color. Cool. This is friction-based, of course.
I thought about this for a few days then asked my other daughter Noah what she would use that kind of technology for. Her first answer was ’shoes.’ Interesting, as I had considered that too but couldn’t see how it would work. I told her I was looking for something with a hard surface since the material was essentially a laminate. Then Noah suggested ‘cars.’
Think about it: how cool would it be if the color of your car could change based on temperature and humidity range? Here in New England I might have a yellow car in the summer (hot and dry), that could change to yellow-greenish in the spring and fall, and become a purely green vehicle for most of the winter. This fits my sense of aesthetics, changing with the seasons.
What colors would you want?
By the way, my wife mentioned that this kind of thing exists in jewelry and perhaps nail polish, so I started looking a bit further into it. As you might imagine, there are brighter minds than mine working on this concept. Below are a couple of fun videos showing how the technology is actually currently under development (though it doesn’t yet seem ready for prime time).
Finally, how cool would it be if this technology could be applied to contact lenses too, so your eyes would change color based on temperature and light? How else can you imagine innovating with color changing technologies?
AfriGadget
Kiva