Fibrance at CES® 2017 | The Glass Age Today | Corning

CES® 2017

Fibrance as a Brand Builder

CES exhibits stood out with Corning’s light-diffusing fiber technology

Amid the bustle of high-tech auto displays at CES® 2017, a full-scale wireframe car popped with strands of pastel colors. Visitors stopped to admire the futuristic model and its backdrop of a glowing, ever-changing, floor-to-ceiling rainbow.

For German lighting manufacturer Osram, it was a metaphorical representation of Isaac Newton’s experiments with prisms and light – an appropriate way to bring their brand to life, thanks to Corning® Fibrance® Light-Diffusing Fiber.

Osram was once known primarily as a producer of incandescent lighting. Today, the firm is a growing innovation leader in high-tech applications based on semiconductor technologies, like lasers and smart lighting solutions. 

At CES, the firm offered visitors a virtual reality experience to learn about sensors and lasers for automobiles. But what first grabbed the attention of many was the full spectrum of wall color and the car wireframe, which seemed to pop up out of an engineer’s sketchbook and took on an almost-magical glow.

The Fibrance technology, said Corning’s Dr. Peter Wigley, did much more than help Osram attractively decorate their booth.

“We helped to show how Osram is an innovative, vibrant, forward-looking company and they are re-inventing themselves into a laser manufacturer in the automotive space,” said Wigley.

Osram wasn’t the only CES exhibitor to project its brand through colorful Fibrance technology.

The Sumitomo Electric Group showcased some of its strengths in mobility, energy, and communications technologies in a special Smart Home exhibit at the Sands and Expo Convention Center.

For that exhibit, a horizontal fan of Fibrance strands filled a large, simple white frame, creating the look of a rich, colorful tapestry. The feeling it projected: High-tech modernity, but also comforting warmth.

And in Corning’s own booth – where Fibrance served a stylish, practical purpose in the tail lights and instrument panel of the glass-enabled concept car – the bright fiber also took an artistic turn.

Two large, spherical chandeliers were suspended on either side of the booth, with tightly curved Fibrance forming intricate webs of clear, vibrant color. They projected the innovative image that Corning displayed everywhere on the booth floor – and booth visitors noticed.

“As an artistic medium, we’re finding that there’s a tremendous amount of excitement for taking a spot of light – from a laser, turning it into a line of light, then curving that into two-and three-dimensional objects,” Wigley said. “We’re taking light and literally molding it like a sculpture, which is a very beautiful thing to be able to do.”