Say goodbye to your curtains or blinds

Curtains are now an important part of a house however, a new technology might just end the reign of curtains by making windows serve the purpose of them instead.

Researchers invented a new technology that can make glass windows change from being transparent to being opaque and back again within one minute. What the glass needs to perform its task is just a tiny amount of electricity in order to switch from one state to the other. Whereas, no extra power is required until the switch is flipped for turning the material back to its former state, whether clear or opaque.

The windows work by sandwiching a sheet of electrochromic material between two glass panes. It is made by merging an organic material and a metal salt. The materials later self-assemble into a thin film of the switchable material.

Daily Mail reports the researchers saying that this new material is advancement on the already prevailing ‘self-shading’ windows.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner was the first plane to use a similar technology of changing windows from transparent to dark blue. However, according to scientists, this technology is new that changes windows to being completely opaque. “We did not tweak what was out there, we came up with a completely different solution,” said Michael McGehee from Stanford University.

In order to test the windows, it was turned on and off a total 5,500 times without a decrease in its opacity levels, which indicates its stability and future potential, informs Science Alert.

Covering an area of 5cm x 5cm, the team has targeted a price range of around 50% of what the alternative gel windows cost. The researchers now plan on making a 1-inch square sample. Researchers believe that the users could a just flip a switch when the sun shines through the window and turn it dark. It can also make the whole side of the building go dark automatically.

McGehee exclaims, “We're excited because dynamic window technology has the potential to optimize the lighting in rooms or vehicles, save about 20 percent in heating and cooling costs, and even change the way people wear sunglasses.”

“This is an important area that is barely being investigated at universities, and there's a lot of opportunity to keep us motivated,” he continued.