September 19, 2008--SmartGlass International Ltd. (SGI; Dublin, Ireland), a licensee of Research Frontiers Inc. (Woodbury, NY), has launched a line of "SmartGlass" architectural window products at the 100% Detail show, which is being held from September 18 to 21, 2008 at Earls Court in London, England. (The 100% Detail show features new developments in the architectural field.)

The SmartGlass windows, which change their transmission at the twirl of a knob, are based on suspended-particle-device (SPD) technology developed and patented by Research Frontiers. The SPD technology consists of a film that contains randomly oriented microscopic particles that absorb light. However, when a voltage is applied to the film, the particles all align, allowing light to pass through. By varying the voltage, the amount of light (and heat) passing through the film can be varied. The SPD film, which is quite durable, can be applied to glass or plastic products such as windows, sunroofs, eyewear, and others.

SGI is exhibiting four large SPD-SmartGlass panels used in the walls of a circular meeting room at their stand in the show. These panels use second-generation SPD-Smart film manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) with lamination done by SGI at their new and expanded manufacturing facility in Dublin, Ireland. The 20,000 ft² facility houses the company's design, tempering, laminating, and quality-control operations, as well as its product showroom.

SGI is also exhibiting a panel of its SPD-SmartGlass at a special finalists stand at the show; all finalists will be recognized in an upcoming edition of Architecture Today magazine. According to John Browne, managing director of SGI, "The news of our making the short list is terrific."

Fri Sep 19 13:09:00 CDT 2008