Thanks to a collaboration between Zytronic and Pilkington, a new hi-fi concept has been announced: the ElectroglaZ music system made from a single pane of laminated, conductive glass.
Visually, this piece of kit looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. All you see is a single pane of glass with two tweeters, a display and some capacitive touch buttons carved into the glass, all with no visible wires, giving the illusion that every piece of technology is suspended in mid-air.
This kind of transparent speaker system is different from other transparent speakers we’ve seen before, such as Transparent Sound’s Small Transparent Speaker. The small transparent speaker relies on wires and more familiar technology while using a pane of tempered glass as its frame, giving a transparent appearance.
With the ElectroglaZ, Zytronic and Pilkington use a specially treated piece of electrically conductive glass. Essentially, this means that the glass itself in the ElectroglaZ functions as wiring capable of pushing current, drawing current, being used as a sensor, and more, making the ElectroglaZ truly wireless.
Of course, you’ll still need to power the ElectroglaZ, which is done through a hidden connection around the perimeter of the device. Once connected, power flows in and through the glass to the tweeters, screen and buttons, all without any traditional wiring, giving the ElectroglaZ its signature floating appearance.
According to Zytronic’s technical director, the ElectroglaZ was designed in response to modern technology often opting for minimalist aesthetics that are undermined by what can be a plethora of unsightly wires and connections, opening up new design possibilities for all kinds of home technology.
As of now, this is just a showcase of the hi-fi concept, so you’ll have to wait a while before choosing one of these transparent systems for yourself. However, the possibilities of electrically conductive glass technology are definitely exciting, and this kind of technology could be worth keeping an eye on in the future.
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