“Window” Displays

Engineers have come up with a means of turning ordinary sheets of glass into computer screens, a technology that could have applications from window advertising to windshields that display dashboard controls and navigation.

Using a technique known as resonant scattering, nanoparticles embedded in a transparent polymer sheet selectively scatter only specific wavelengths of light while letting other wavelengths pass through. Although initial models used silver nanoparticles, other materials could also be used in combination to display a broad range of colors.

When compared with organic light-emitting diode screens which are integrated directly into the glass, this approach is lower cost, easier to manufacture, scalable to large sizes and more transparent. Unlike other “heads up” displays that use beam splitters to project an image into the viewer’s eyes, and require them to be in exactly the correct position, it also offers a wide viewing angle for far greater visibility.