Ombrae is made by using a software-based image generating process. Actually it is not a coating but an image that is translated onto an array of optical tiles. This translation is possible by casting or machining into concrete, glass, metal, composites or fabrics at any scale – as large as the side of a building or as small as the sole of a shoe. Each optical tile is a beveled, cylindrical “pixel” with an angled surface that reflects a particular, precisely determined amount of light. This array of optical tiles literally sculpts the reflected light into an image.
The result is a sensory active surface: a dynamic image that transforms in space with the viewer’s movement and the changes in light levels. There are no lenses, laminate layers, printed dyes or inks – the image is the material. See for examples