Digital tiles turn bedroom walls into cinema screens

European LUMENTILE project develops luminous surfaces that change color for diverse decorative, informative or safety applications.

A team of European scientists have developed a range of digital, ceramic tiles that can change color, pattern, or play videos from a connected smart phone or tablet, effectively turning a bedroom wall or ceiling into a giant cinema screen.

Based on photonics technology, the LUMENTILE (Luminous Electronic Tile) project combines the simplicity of a plain ceramic tile with sophisticated touch screen technology to create an interactive light source.

The tile consists of a combination of ceramic, glass and organic electronics, the luminous tile includes structural materials, solid-state light sources and electronics, which can be controlled from a central computer, a smart phone or tablet.

Embedded photonics

The developers say this is the first time electronics and photonics have been embedded into ceramics or glass for a large-scale application. The launch announcement states, “With the ability to play videos or display images, the tiles allow the user to turn their walls into a large ‘cinema’ screen, where each A4-sized unit (297 x 210mm) acts as a pixel of the overall display.