![]() ![]() This meant that a major issue was in figuring out how to minimize the effects on the UMU film when fixing the glass together. But the liquid crystals found in UMU film are sensitive to heat and pressure. Laminated glass is produced by fixing two pieces of glass together with high heat or pressure. But the path to its successful development had been filled with difficulties. When UMU, which could become transparent or opaque instantly, was first released in 1987, it attracted a great deal of attention from the marketplace. ![]() Clouds, which are a visible mass of transparent water particles, look white because the water particles scatter the light, and the same thing happens with UMU film.” The difference is in whether the light passes in parallel or is scattered. Yano Yuichi, Technical Director of NSG UMU Products Co., Ltd.*** in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, a company that has worked on research and development of UMU for over 30 years, explains, “The amount of light passing through the UMU film is actually almost the same, whether transparent or opaque. When the molecules are irregularly aligned within the capsules, the light that hits them is scattered, and the film is opaque (a milky white color), but when they become aligned, light can pass through without scattering and the film becomes transparent (see Figure 2). The liquid crystal molecules are normally irregularly aligned along the inner walls of the capsules, but when voltage is applied, they align themselves in a certain direction. UMU is made up of laminated glass which sandwiches a transparent film (UMU film), which is dispersed capsules that are a few microns in diameter containing liquid crystal* molecules, between an intermediate membrane of resin, and is then further laminated by two sheets of float glass** (see Figure 1). They developed UMU, a type of switchable light control glass, in 1987. is one of the companies leading the world in research and development of this light control glass. If used as a partition in a conference room, it allows for an office space with a sense of openness by being set to transparent when not in use. For example, it can offer the convenience of being able to see whether a restroom in a hotel or home is vacant while also ensuring privacy while in use. Light control glass is a type of glass that can instantly switch between being transparent and being opaque by turning electricity on or off. When the train passes near residential areas, the window automatically becomes opaque, protecting the privacy of those living near the tracks.Ī Japanese company is continuing to improve its switchable light control glass, and applications for the glass are expanding. ![]()
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