rethinking design - Spatial Design@Massey

The portable light has been integrated into
the design of a luminous reading mat. The
reading mat incorporates high brightness
solid state lighting and flexible
photovoltalic technology in a textile
medium. The mat weighs less that 8 ounces
making it easily folded for shipping or
transport and is easily carried by the user in
the form of clothing or equipment. The
lightweight design makes the mat adaptable
for the different intended needs of the user,
reading, writing and work tasks. At night
the mat emits up to four hours of white
digital light.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/b
rainiac/read_mat.jpg
The portable light project has now developed a design to provide energy harvesting blankets as part of
a home care treatment program. The blanket enables patients to generate power and light for their
families during treatment. Patients who are outdoors during the day are kept warm, and are also able to
harvest sunlight to charge an attatched LED lantern and other small devices such as cell phones.
The sun charges the flexible portable light solar panels in three hours creating 4watts of power, which
is stored in a rechargeable battery. The portable light requires self -reliance of the patients who then
recharges the blanket themselves the following day.
A portable light blanket brings patients the advantage of solar power, so while they are using them
during the day they are simultaneously charging so they can serve as a light source or heated blanket at
night.
The light up the world foundation, in Canada have also been designing lighting solutions that deal with
the same issues as that of the Portable light group. The light up the world foundation have responded
by distributing LED lanterns to villagers in Nepal, and have been doing so for years. The foundation is
dedicated to providing lighting to poor people in remote areas who currently rely on keresone lamps
and wood fires. By utilizing renewable energy and sold-state lighting technologies the light up the
world foundation have provided affordable, safe, healthy, efficient and environmentally responsive
illumination to people who do not have access to power for adequate lighting. Effeciency, durability
and minimal cost have all been taken into account by using technologies such as LED lighting. The
project has bought tangible social,
environmental and economic gains to
communities by protecting the physical
environment by reducing the amount of
carbon-based fuels for lighting.
(http://lutw.org/home.htm) Burning
wood or dung, keresone lanterns,
candles and so on pollutes the air in
people’s homes, producing greenhouse
gases and demands time and money
spent getting fuel. Relying on these
traditional technologies causing
localized air pollution is a hardship that
keeps a large fraction of humanityparticularly
women locked into cycles
of poverty, ill-health, and deprivation