Loop.ph

Rachel Wingfield and Mathias Gmachl, otherwise known as Loop.ph, will be showing off a prototype of Sonumbra, a solar-enabled parasol by day, programmable electroluminescent light source and object de music by night, this weekend at the Faster Than Sound festival in Suffolk, England. The couple dreamed up Sonumbra as a way to shed light on and provide relief for African villages that lack electricity. During the day it offers shelter from the sun; at night it provides a luminescent light and music show using energy collected in cells embedded in its canopy. The unit senses the movement of viewers and adjusts its latticed light-pattern displays accordingly. Check out a story I wrote about Loop.ph and their use of electroluminescent fibers in fabrics and everyday household items a while back in the magazine.