The Art of Static

A team at Goldsmiths College, University of London is working on harnessing static electricity as a power source for a dynamic audio-visual displaying fabric. The research is also helping shed light on using static electricity as an on-demand, renewable energy source.

They explain:

E-Static Shadows‘ is a practise-based experimental research project by designer Dr. Zane Berzina and architect Jackson Tan which creatively explores the speculative and poetic potential of static electricity found in our everyday environments, surrounding our everyday interactions. The aim of the project is to investigate how electrostatic energy could either be effectively utilised or play a part in the development of active, responsive and interactive textile systems which would be capable of detecting, translating and displaying this energy into dynamic audio-visual patterns. This design pilot project studies the possible translations of electrostatic energy into other types of energy such as light, sound and motion using specially engineered intelligent textile systems as mediators and displays for these processes.

[via Interactive Architecture]