Biker’s Darling

Greger Gustavsson with his Chameleon visor

By MOON-HEE ANDERSSON
NanoNordic.com interviews all bikers’ darling, or rather the company Chromogenics in Uppsala, Sweden that has developed a thin film application aimed at the motorcycle helmet market. A great problem for motor-cyclists is the changing light conditions. Entering or exiting a tunnel can be very risky business. Every year numerous drivers are killed in accidents due to this. Chromogenics has solved the problem by developing a visor that rapidly changes transparency according to existing lighting conditions.

The Garage
Though this sounds like a garage company by definition, the concept was the basis for Greger Gustavsson’s final thesis at the civil engineer-programme at Uppsala University, Sweden. Next Greger entered and won a Venture Cup in 2002 and went on to start the company. Today the company is owned by six researchers, Teknikbrostiftelsen in Uppsala and Uppsala University Holding. The goal is to hit the market with the first product, the Chameleon visor, at the end of 2004 or early in 2005.

Large-scale production
Chromogenics works with a very simple production method. – We’ve developed a large-scale production process, but it will of course cost money, so we need more financing. We’re in discussions with several potential partners today, and depending on how these discussions turn out, we will know whether we will be licensing or selling, Greger says.

The Chameleon visor

Product development
The company is constantly working on developing the visor further. – Since spring we have shortened the time it takes for the visor to switch, from 30 seconds down to 10 seconds and we know that in just a couple of months we will be down till just a couple of seconds, says Greger.
The visor can be fitted inside existing clear visors on helmets already on the market, or it can applied to completely new products. – We don’t know today if the visor will be sold separately as an accessory or if it will be sold together with a helmet. It depends on our partner, Greger says. 

The EC foil
The material that Chromogenics has developed, the EC foil, consists of thin oxide layers laminated between two flexible polymer sheets. The foils are first coated with a transparent electrically conducting layer and then by active electrochromic layers. The lamination process uses a special ion-conducting electrolyte that makes it possible to "charge" and "discharge" the electrochromic layers, thus getting them to absorb or NOT absorb visible light. This process is very similar to charging and discharging of rechargeable batteries. Since the material is electrochromic this means that only a very small electric current is necessary for the visor to switch. – We have developed three different prototypes. One prototype is voice-activated, one with a wireless transmitter on the handlebars and one with a switch on the outside of the helmet. It could be automated by a sensor, but our test-drivers say that they want to be able to control the switch themselves, Greger says.

Visors are great but WINDOWS ARE GREATER!
The visor is but one area of application for this thin-film, or foil. Another application is “smart windows”. High energy consumption due to air-conditioning, is a global problem. Windows that darken as the sun gets brighter, would lower energy costs substantially. Many other vehicles could have use of the technology in windows shading sunlight, on boats, in airplanes, rear-view mirrors, sunroofs and windows in cars. — We have collaboration with Elitfönster and we are right now doing a market study which will be finished in the beginning of next year. The “smart window” is our core-business but time to market is longer than for the visors, Greger says.