A new color from MIT makes it possible

Many of you have probably already had the following feeling: You bought something only to find that you don’t really like the color. Or you already had the situation that you couldn’t even decide on a color (that’s how I felt with the iPad Air, for example). For those who are undecided, MIT now has the perfect solution: a flexible color.

The idea is as follows: an object (for example a smartphone) is painted with the new type of paint. In the original state, this is clear and relatively unspectacular, but if we irradiate the smartphone with UV light, the base color can be converted into any color imaginable. Monday green, Tuesday blue? That shouldn’t be a problem here anymore.

Depending on which color you choose, the process takes about 10 minutes. In addition to plain colors, patterns and texts can also be printed on objects. So instead of ordering a new smartphone case every time, you can simply change the chosen motif regularly. The researchers demonstrated this on a coffee mug on which the daily agenda and the weather can be printed.

But how can you re-print your smartphone every time? This works because the color gradually fades, in offices this process takes about 2 days. The process is not yet fully suitable for everyday use in the fresh air, after all, UV radiation from the sun constantly hits the planet. This would redesign the printed item again.

Own opinion:

So is MIT’s new process a way of avoiding waste in the long term? Possibly as customization of items can be done at will. Instead of constantly buying new items in different colors, we could get by with a case, a coffee cup or other things for years. The only question that remains is how manufacturers can earn money with this in the long term.

Via Fast Company