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ART+COM and Selux worked together to create Manta Rhei, a lighting design that can be choreographed to move in various, beautiful ways. The design is based on OLED technology, a lighting technology that allows for very thin, very light-weigh panels to be used in lighting design — and ultimately these will be very energy efficient.
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Currently, OLED technology is used on smaller scales with cell phone display screens and other hand-held devices. Eventually, the technology may come far enough that these designs can incorporate large, flexible panels of OLED lights. For now, smaller panels are possible.
For years, designers have been dreaming up ways to use OLED technology in lighting concepts, from wallpaper the illuminates a room to the kind of kinetic sculptures shown here with Manta Rhei. This concept is “a delicate OLED-based lamp that silently floating in space alters their appearance constantly.”
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ART+COM states that the luminous body is 1.2 meters by 2.4 meters, and contains 140 ultra-thin OLED modules. The design is able to move in different ways while still maintaining stable lighting in the room thanks to intelligent control of the OLED panels. Because it uses many smaller panels, the light is modular and can be made as small or large as one wishes by adding more panels.
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In addition, a range of pre-programmed choreographies can be loaded, so the light will move however you wish it to move, depending on the mood you want to set in the room. Each choreography is set so that the lighting in the room remains consistent even while the light moves in so many different ways. It is a really cool illustration of how the latest technology can create unique lighting-as-art.
It is not likely that we will see this design out and about, unless maybe you’re visiting some very wealthy friends. OLED technology along is not cheap, and to get an incredible sculpture incorporating it such as this would cost quite the pretty penny.
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You can see it in motion in this video:
Kinetic Luminaire: Manta Rhei from ART+COM on Vimeo.