When Nikola Tesla envisioned handheld devices capable of displaying videos and photos, his ideas felt like a far-off fantasy. Fast forward nearly a century, and smartphones have become indispensable extensions of our lives. Now, digital fabrication engineers are pushing the boundaries of everyday objects by exploring the concept of reprogrammable surfaces—items that can have their appearances altered digitally. This innovation aims to help users present crucial information, such as health metrics, and redesign everyday items like walls, mugs, or shoes.
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the University of California at Berkeley, and Aarhus University have recently made strides in this area with the development of “PortaChrome,” a portable light system and design tool that can change the colors and textures of various objects. Comprised of ultraviolet (UV) and red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDs, the device can be affixed to common items, including shirts and headphones. Users can create designs and transmit them via Bluetooth to the PortaChrome machine, allowing the surface to be programmed for dynamic multicolor displays showcasing health data, entertainment graphics, or fashion designs.
For an object to be reprogrammable, it must be treated with photochromic dye—an invisible ink that changes colors when exposed to specific light patterns. Once coated, individuals can design and send patterns to the item using the research team’s graphic design software or directly through their API to embed data-driven visuals. When PortaChrome is applied to a surface, the UV lights saturate the dye while the RGB LEDs desaturate it, activating the colors to ensure that each pixel aligns with the desired design.
The integrated light system developed by Zhu and her colleagues allows objects to undergo color changes in under four minutes—approximately eight times faster than their previous system, “Photo-Chromeleon.” This significant improvement comes from a shift to a light source that directly contacts the object to transmit UV and RGB rays, as opposed to utilizing a projector that cast light onto the surface at a lower intensity.
“PortaChrome offers a more practical way to reprogram your environment,” explains Yunyi Zhu, an MIT graduate student and lead author of the study. “Unlike our previous projector-based system, PortaChrome is a portable light source that can be placed directly on the photochromic surface. This allows for color changing without requiring user intervention, minimizing UV exposure in the environment. As a result, users could display their heart rate information on their t-shirt post-workout, for instance.”
PortaChrome has demonstrated its potential for personal customization through several compelling demonstrations. During one test, a user hiked while wearing PortaChrome sewn into their backpack, positioned against a shirt coated with photochromic dye. Sensors tracking the individual’s altitude and heart rate transmitted data to the PortaChrome, which utilized a reprogramming script to generate a health visualization on the shirt’s back. In another demonstration, researchers displayed an animated heart on a tablet, visually representing a user’s fitness journey.
Moreover, PortaChrome showcased its capability for altering fashion items. The researchers reimagined a pair of white headphones by applying horizontal lines in blue, yellow, and purple using photochromic dye. By attaching the PortaChrome device inside the headphone case, they successfully reprogrammed vibrant patterns to resemble watercolor art. They even matched the color of a wrist splint to coordinate with different outfits, illustrating the versatility of this technology.
Looking ahead, the potential applications for PortaChrome are intriguing. The technology could enable the digital transformation of personal belongings—imagine a jacket that changes your shirt’s design on command or a car cover that provides an entirely new aesthetic for your vehicle.
The underlying hardware of PortaChrome comprises four critical components: a textile base, a layer housing the UV lights, another layer with RGB lights, and a silicone diffusion layer that encapsulates the LEDs and directs light toward individual pixels. This layered system resembles a translucent honeycomb design, allowing the device to be flexibly wrapped around various objects. For flat surfaces like tables, PortaChrome can simply be placed on top, while curved items like thermoses can have the device encased around them like a sleeve.
Crafted with tools accessible in maker spaces, PortaChrome can be reproduced using flexible PCB materials and conventional mass manufacturing systems. Although the system can transform everyday environments into dynamic displays, Zhu and her team are aiming for even greater speed. They are considering the use of smaller LEDs, which could facilitate a surface reprogramming time reduced to mere seconds while enhancing both resolution and light intensity.
“The surfaces of our everyday objects encode colors and textures that are essential for communication and interaction,” notes Tingyu Cheng, a postdoc at Georgia Tech who was not involved in the study. “PortaChrome marks a significant advancement by integrating flexible light sources with photochromic pigments into everyday items, granting them the ability to dynamically display colors and patterns. The capabilities demonstrated by PortaChrome could transform how we engage with our surroundings, especially in the realms of personalized fashion and adaptive interfaces. This innovation offers real-time customization that seamlessly merges with everyday life, hinting at the future of ubiquitous displays.”
The collaborative research team includes several other CSAIL affiliates, such as Cedric Honnet, Yixiao Kang, Angelina J. Zheng, Grace Tang, Luca Musk, Junyi Zhu, Michael Wessely, and lead author Stefanie Mueller, an associate professor in MIT’s Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering departments. The project received support from the MIT-GIST Joint Research Program and was presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in October.
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