Bright Blinds: the Cube Farmer's Dream
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 11.23.07
All the workers of the world will unite to demand one of these for their cubicles; unlike Kenny's post where the blind generated power, Makoto Hirahara's uses just a bit to power electroluminescent sheets "to simulate a window where none exists."
It works just like a real blind: turn the plastic stick to control the brightness. Clever stuff from GNR8Pipeline, which we are now watching carefully.
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This is actually kind of anti-treehugger...
Ross...I was thinking the exact same thing...am I missing something here as to how this fits the treehugger theme?
electroluminescent panels are a new, interesting and energy efficient technology and I like seeing things like that used in creative new ways. I saw this and I liked it from a design point of view. Lets not be completely doctrinaire; sometimes things are here just because they are interesting.
Ross, I was going to say the same thing... It's psychologically soothing but all in all going the other way...But considering the technology, a smallish solar-receptor outside could potentially power it...via a very long wire! The energy and manufacturing process to make this, however, is questionable when we ALL need to go outside anyway - hence the problem we've got now in the first place - not enough people go outside so they don't know what sun and fresh air is anymore...
Also, it's been proven repeatedly that people do better when exposed to 'natural' light - even if that light is artifically generated. and thousands upon thousands of people work where there are no windows. this can be green if it is used to give 'natural' feeling light where it just isn't possible to get any.
why couldn't they put solar panels on a blind. I don't know what it would cost but it would be cool I think to have that option.
Real office workers demand windows, and then close them once they realize the glare on their monitor prevents them from working, and the heat from the afternoon sun bakes them. I've seen it happen again, and again. I've even TOLD people they're going to hate their windows, and they laugh or glare at me.
Some of them won't even admit to it after the fact, but you can tell.
And the sad matter is that an office full of big windows, even when they're covered, is almost always less efficient than a nice square building with a lower surface area to volume ratio.
By my estimation, something like this is about as green as you can get. It breaks part of the psychological link between the -idea- of a window and reduced building efficiency.
I still think the ultimate goal for the 'fake window' is a small video wall with a live scene broadcast from the place of your choice. The ocean. Your favorite park. Your back yard. Maybe even a rain forest. Re-establishing your link with nature without actually having to tread on it.
But for the interim, a convincing window blind is not a bad thing.