WEAVING THE LIGHT Panasonic

What if light could be woven, like thread?

Weaving is one of the oldest ways humans have made things. Thread by thread, a structure emerges from nothing.

Panasonic’s laser-carrying optical fibers are thin as thread. Working with them felt like working with yarn—except the yarn was light itself. Treating the fiber as thread, we wove fourteen fibers—each running fifteen meters without a single cut—through seven suspended structures, letting the installation take shape the way fabric does, one pass at a time.

Because each thread is unbroken, light travels its full length: slow gradients drifting through the weave. Walk around it, and the lines cross and uncross.

Presented at “Hands-on Innovation,” Panasonic Design’s exhibition at Tokyo Midtown DESIGN TOUCH 2017.