Clothed in Light

Luminex

Luminex® is a non-reflective fabric that emits its own light. Various weights can be produced, ranging from fabric with the hand and drape of traditional textiles and suitable for apparel to slightly stiffer fabrics for architectural, decorative, or transportation applications (automobile, aviation). The wearable fabrics are illuminated by a small, low-voltage LED, but when wearability or portability isn’t a factor, a halogen bulb can produce significantly brighter illumination. Applications include clothing, nighttime sportswear, safety garb, and interior illumination.

Conventional optical fiber has been tried in fabrics for at least 30 years. Optical fiber is stiff and does not have the “give” and flexibility required of textile fiber, thus making it almost impossible to weave. Optical fiber also was created to conduct light from one end of the fiber to the other. It has a light-conductive core and a reflective cladding designed to keep light within the fiber until it reaches the end.

Luminex fabric works oppositely to conventional optical fiber. Mechanically, it is flexible and has the give to allow it to be woven easily with ordinary textiles. Optically, the fiber’s cladding emits light along its surface. The fabric is treated by laser to improve the cladding’s transmissivity.

Developed in concert with European nuclear lab CAEN, Luminex fabric is currently available as an industrial product. Continuing development focuses on integrated electronics, such as microchips or RGB LEDs, for new features and adjustable colors. For example, the fabric could be used to signal physical condition such as body temperature or heartbeat, or to respond to environmental stimuli such as air temperature, pollution, or the presence of allergens.

The diameter of Luminex fiber runs from 250 micron to about 500 micron. Light emissivity depends on the diameter of the fiber, its proportion in the fabric, and the brightness of the source. The fabric is already in use in theatrical applications, is available as a finished product, is sold online, and many prototype applications—clothing, umbrellas, furniture, and architectural embellishments—have been created.

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