Eye candy: Glow-in-the-dark surfing
The dude in the picture above is riding the night surf at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.He and 16 others trimmed their wetsuits and boards with glow-in-the-dark lighting in the wee hours of Thursday morning to herald the arrival of summer Down Under.
Some video reports, like the BBC’s described the lighting technology as “neon.” Others, such as the New York Daily News, called it “LED” (light emitting diode). I was unable to verify either, but this strikes me as a perfect application for “organic LEDs" (OLEDs). Like neon, OLEDs emit light from a natural source. Scientists are developing flexible models that would usher in a radical new lighting world in which light sources form the fabric of buildings, furniture, fashion and other objects - like surfboards.
Anyway, that’s enough tech talk. Feast your eyes on the BBC video link above (rights issues prohibit us from embedding it here), and on the videos and pictures below. The first embedded video comes from YouTube via event sponsor Strongbow, a British brand of alcoholic cider. The photos are by Eugene Tan in partnership with Aquabumps, an organization that describes itself as “dedicated to early morning beach life.” The final YouTube video spots a similar colorful scene in Tenerife.
Some more groovy pics, by Eugene Tan via Aquabumps:
And another video, this one from Tenerife sporting LED lighting:
More twisting and turning with OLEDs:
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com