Profile l Matt Johnson
Electric Paint can be used to conduct electricity
in small projects, for cold soldering and as a
capacitive sensor electrode
Q
What can Electric Paint be used
for? What kind of applications
is it finding?
a
electric paint is a non-toxic,
electrically conductive paint. it’s a
material with a lot of applications, but i
think they can be grouped into three
main categories: powering small devices,
cold soldering and printed sensors.
electric paint is essentially a paintable – or printable – wire.
You can apply two lines to a piece of paper, attach a battery and
led, and watch the light glow. this is a great demonstration of
Q
In 2014, Bare Conductive Electric Paint was used by
Denim specialist Huit to transformed a shop window into
the fundamental principle of electrical conductivity and is fun
a display that doubled as an informative touchscreen. What
for small projects, but the resistance of the paint makes it
other projects have used Electric Paint?
impractical for large scale use, such as mains powered lighting.
the second use is cold soldering. Because electric paint is quite
viscous it can be used to attach components electrically and
mechanically. we’ve seen hobbyists use it to install lights in model
train cars and create soldering-free electronics activities for kids.
Finally, electric paint makes a very effective capacitive sensor
electrode. the electrical properties of the material combined
with the range of substrates it can be applied to mean that
there are a wide variety of applications for our capacitive touch
and proximity sensors. For example, our printed sensors can
track a person’s location over time in an architectural space.
A few of my favourite things…
a
we’ve seen electric paint and our touch Board used in a
number of installations, which leverage the technology’s
ability to apply interactivity to unexpected surfaces. we’ve seen
shop windows, walls and floors all turned into sensors to trigger
sounds, lights and video.
Q
a
What is the thinking behind Bare Conductive’s range of
educational products?
we see ourselves as producing tools that are accessible to
a wide audience. in that sense, they can be educational. we
have a range of kits that demonstrate some of the basic
Favourite drink
cool, clear water
Favourite food
almost nothing beats a ripe apple
www.bareconductive.com/shop.
Favourite gadget
My Bose noise-cancelling headphones
what i’m reading
a biography of theodore roosevelt, written before wwii
the last film i saw
the latest star wars
Q
a
Favourite tV programme
Just finished stranger things – fantastic!