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An incredibly innovative gymnasium floor has been installed in a German school, and it’s a definite winner with the pupils!

Made from layers of specially toughened glass and coated with an ultra-strength, anti-skid laminate, the smart floor harnesses the awesome versatility and power of LEDs to light the way for many different types of sport, all achieved with the touch of a button.

This floor of the future is the brainchild of German company ASB Glassfloor, and is an aluminium frame that supports the glass, which is tempered to resist breakage. This means that the panels can be much larger and thinner for their size than traditional glass floor tiles, like the ones made famous in the film Saturday Night Fever.

The surface is etched to prevent stray reflection and, in order to achieve the particular friction of a traditional parquet gymnasium floor, the glass is covered with tiny ceramic dots.

Strips of ultra-bright, yet low energy LEDs are then inserted into channels beneath and linked up to a control panel. This enables an operator to change the layout of the floor, depending on the sport being played.

The company developed the floor that’s reminiscent of the movie Tron, after it noted that the glass on the squash courts, which is translucent rather than transparent, could be combined with lighting to make moveable lines that wouldn’t be discernible when unlit.

The floor can be used for up to five different sports to include basketball, tennis, handball, volleyball and badminton, but it can also be programmed to enable the development of new sports and games, using the versatile LED lines as barriers or guides.

A “smart” ball could sound off when a barrier is hit, for instance, or lights could track players to show when they are off-sides or out-of-bounds. The future of sporting events has just become a whole lot more exciting as can be seen from this video:

This glass LED-lit flooring has so many other great potential applications as well as just for sport. These include advertising, and in buildings like hospitals and airports, where they could be particularly effective in guiding visitors to their destination, or to illuminate a path to the nearest fire exit during an emergency.

This inventive and practical use of LED lighting technology really illustrates its flexibility and versatility. It already has so many great applications, but it simply begs for ingenious and imaginative people to think outside the box the better to achieve their goals!

If you can think of any more creative uses for LED lighting technology, you can leave a comment below. You can also visit our Facebook and Twitter pages, where your comments and queries will also be welcomed.

If you’d like to speak with one of our customer service advisors by calling 0116 321 4120 or send us an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk.