Courtesy of a collaboration between Zytronic and Pilkington, a new hi-fi concept has been announced: the ElectroglaZ music system that's made from a single pane of laminated, conductive glass.
Visually, this piece of kit looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. All you'll see is a single pane of glass holding two tweeters, a display, and some capacitive touch buttons carved onto the glass all with no wires in sight, giving off the illusion that each piece of tech is suspended in the air.
This kind of transparent speaker system differs from other transparent speakers we've seen before, like the Small Transparent Speaker from Transparent Sound. The Small Transparent Speaker relies on wires and more familiar tech while using a pane of tempered glass as its frame, giving off a transparent look.
With the ElectroglaZ, Zytronic and Pilkington are using a specially treated piece of electrically conductive glass. Essentially, this means that the glass itself in the ElectroglaZ functions like wiring capable of pushing current, pulling current, being used as a sensor, and more, making the ElectroglaZ truly wireless.
Of course, you will still need to power the ElectroglaZ, which is done by way of a hidden connection around the perimeter of the device. Once plugged in, current flows into and through the glass to the tweeters, display, and buttons, all without any traditional wiring, giving the ElectroglaZ its trademark floating look.
According to the technical director over at Zytronic, the ElectroglaZ was designed in response to modern tech often opting for minimalist aesthetics that get undermined by what can be a plethora of unsightly wires and connections, opening up new design possibilities for all kinds of home technology.
As of right now, this is just a hi-fi concept showcase, so you'll have to hang tight for a while before you can pick one of these transparent systems up for yourself. However, the possibilities of electrically conductive glass tech are definitely exciting, and this kind of tech could be worth keeping an eye on going forward.
MORE:
Transparent Sound has made a wireless speaker that's... transparent
Our pick of the best hi-fi systems
and the best Bluetooth speakers
