Philips has demonstrated a new photonic textile at the IFA 2005 show in Berlin that can be used to display information. The company claims flexible LED-arrays are processed in the material, without affecting the softness or flexibility of the textile. In spite of this stuff this textile stays useful.

In cooperation with the textile institute TITV Greiz, Philips Research has also developed a leading substratum that completely consist of cloth as well as flexible and drapable substrates that consist of plastics and films. These substrates use passive matrices of compact RGB LED packages. The material stays soft and supple because the RGB-pixels are placed far from each other and this technology can be embedded in everyday objects as cushions, backpacks and even floor mats. The material that keeps the light sources covered spreads the light so the pixels look bigger than they actually are. Because of that a picture can be created without covering the full textile with light sources.

By incorporating orientation and pressure sensors by incorporating orientation and pressure sensors the photonic textiles can even be made interactive for usage in combination with other devices such as Bluetooth cell phones. Philips says the textile can maybe be used for clothes, communication or furniture in future.