Light+Building: Selux and ART+COM present kinetic luminaire “Manta Rhei”

With the filigree OLED-­based fixture named "Manta Rhei", Selux and ART+COM present the first result results of their exploration into kinetic luminaires at the Light+Building fair.

First impressions from Frankfurt

The luminaire consists of 14 1.2-meter long, flexible metal lamellas each of which carries ten paper thin OLED-modules. Thin steel wires attach the blades to small motors hidden in the ceiling. Being individually controllable these motors move the lamellas ends up and down like wings, and permit the 2.4-meter wide fixtures body to perform different movement patterns, e.g. it can float like a manta ray.

The lamellas movements and the light animations are controlled both by a program that merges mechanical and light motions to a choreographed unity. One can select from a wide range of pre-programmed choreographies with the help of a tablet-PC, so that the light mood can be adjusted to suit any space or occasion. By using a custom-built intelligent control technology the overall quantity of light emitted from the fixture remains constant. The fixture makes use of minimalistic design language, and as a result it gives the impression of light freely hovering in space. Built of individually combinable modules, it can be scaled to different sizes.

Through the interplay of mechanic motions and dynamic light animations Manta Rhei expands the classical fixture typology and opens a new chapter in lighting. As a next step, and based on this initial concept study, a family of kinetic luminaires will be developed.