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In an age of concern about digital security, where the privacy of our personal data on computers and smartphones is a hot topic, many of us might forget the risks associated with the age-old tactic of snooping on information in real life. This thin plastic film is designed to adhere to a laptop screen and obscure its image to anybody but the user – particularly useful for preventing a nosy neighbour on the train from reading your emails.
When viewed front-on, the film appears transparent, but when viewed from an oblique angle, it turns black. It works a bit like vertical blinds on a window. The film is covered with thousands of tiny slats – called louvers – which only allow light to pass through perpendicular to the filter, and block light passing through at other angles. The louvers are embedded in a clear layer of transparent thermoplastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polypropylene.
One method of making privacy filters involves using a heat press to soften and press a thermoplastic sheet onto a mould which contains thousands of long, tiny, parallel channels. The heat and pressure from the press encourages the softened plastic to flow into the tiny grooves of the mould to create a ridged plastic sheet. Black ink is applied to the tips of the channels to create the louvres.
Sample ID: 490
Particularities
- Donated by
- Mike Clode
- Selections
- Categories
- Polymer
- Curiosities
- Optical | Transformative
- Relationships
- Colour Change | Film | Opaque | Optical | Transparent
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