Sustainable Photonic Textiles for the Office Environment

Sustainable Photonic Textiles for the Office Environment

Buiter, J.C.

Ninaber van Eyben, B. (mentor)
Koehler, A.R. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Integrated Product Design

2011-12-02

The Dutch company Royal Philips Electronics N.V. has developed a smart textile that is able to emit light. Philips named this specific type of electronic textile a photonic textile. With the use of LED’s (Light Emitting Diodes) the textile can feedback light to a user or environment. The implementation of this technology, up to this moment, is to be found in the healthcare sector where it can be used as an unobtrusive method to treat i.e. neonatal jaundice on newborn babies. Philips wants to expand the market for photonic textiles to the office environment. To enable this the FlexLight is created. The FlexLight is a product that enhances the work efficiency of the flexible workspace by reducing background noise, adding colour temperatures to the work environment that can stimulate certain moods, and creating a more personalized working environment. The product is placed on the side of the desk to keep the contact between colleagues optimized while creating a private working environment. Light and sound absorption are the result of the use of an intricate combination of different textile surfaces. The FlexLight is controlled by three icons that are projected onto the surface the product is standing. This way the fabric layers will not have to be touched in order to operate the product, which will prolong the lifetime of the fabric. The feature that makes the FlexLight destined to be a flex-office product is its ability to communicate with mobile phones through the NFC standard. When a users phone gets close to a FlexLight, the NFC connection will load the users personal settings onto the FlexLight closest to him. In order to make the FlexLight a sustainable product the FlexLight is made from parts that can all, other than the electronic parts, be re-used or recycled. This given itself does not make the FlexLight a sustainable product because if sold through a conventional business model , there is no possibility to ensure the product will really be recycled. The FlexLight will therefore be sold as a product service system. A product service system (PSS) is a business strategy to sell the service a product induces instead of the product itself. In the case of the FlexLight, the service is; enhancing the flexible workspace. The advantage of the PSS is that Philips will stay owner of the FlexLights, and can thereby control the end of life process of the product, making the life cycle more sustainable. Another advantage of the product service system lies in customer relations. Future domination of the market by LEDs will decrease the demand for retro-fit light bulbs that will have to be replaced every other year. Philips will thereby have less opportunities to sell products to the customer. The PSS will create a contract based relationships with the customer where periodical maintenance will increase the customer supplier connection. The FlexLight can be an experimental product for this model since it is more common for business to business contract to be service oriented. Concluding; the Flexlight holds potential to open a new market to push photonic textiles. It also creates opportunities for Philips to create a sustainable product with high usability and value, and experiment with a new business strategy in a changing market.

sustainable
Photonic Textile
Product Service System

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d4dc64a2-1fee-4667-8472-9cbf006b12d7

2012-12-02

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Buiter , J.C.