A magic carpet to guide your way

Imagine finding all the information you are looking for right beneath your feet.

That’s what the inventors of the LED carpet are promising – data transmitted in real time, that could guide people around buildings by illuminating routes and safety exits, helping air travelers navigate their way through airports, for example, or guiding people in hotels.

The brainchild of Dutch carpet-maker Desso and electronics giant Philips, the carpet is made of translucent plastic that can withstand people’s weight. The plastic is laid on top of a steel screen peppered with LEDs.

“With this solution, we can enhance safety in buildings, we can inform people, help them navigate inside a building or inspire people,” says Ed Huibers, Sales and Marketing Director, Philips Luminous Carpets.

Designed to engage directly with people’s senses and the eyes’ natural inclination to seek out light, the carpet takes advantage of people’s tendency to be guided by the floor when moving through and interacting with space.

“You enter the hotel, you get your badge and then the carpet guides you to your room. Inside your room, you have lights in your carpets to guide you, for instance, during the night to go to the bathroom. When you leave your room, you will be guided to the restaurant, or in the case of emergency, it will be very clear where the emergency exit is,” says Philips’ Ed Huibers.

Questions arise, however, over the likelihood of advertisers latching on to this new opportunity to increase exposure.

And if the LED magic carpet idea doesn’t fly in offices and public spaces, it could always be an innovative way of improving your interior decoration, instantly transforming your lounge into a groovy nightclub dancefloor.