Very simple really; Coving with intricate holes to allow small rays of light to cover the room. It would come with a few options:
Basic - Simple perforated holes.
Diffused - Inside of the coving is covered with a slightly opaque film to diffuse the light slightly.
Coloured - Multiple coloured light sources to change the mode/style of the room.

The illumination would come from LED's distributed inside the coving and the intensity would be changeable to convey different moods. Also for extra cost, customers can choose to design their own patterns.
-- silverstormer, Nov 18 2003

D.I.Y. http://www.del-ligh...d_installation.html
fiberoptic starfield [Laughs Last, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

I semi-baked this by accident with a hammer, and a handful of nails
-- Letsbuildafort, Nov 18 2003


Handy Andy eat your heart out.
-- po, Nov 18 2003


+ for teaching me a new word.
-- k_sra, Nov 18 2003


I love your idea silverstormer, however it's very baked in corporate and commercial architectural lighting schemes using fiber optic cables almost exclusively.
-- Tiger Lily, Nov 18 2003


I'd like to see some links [Tiger], just to make sure.
-- silverstormer, Nov 18 2003


I've seen it in commercial settings too.
-- waugsqueke, Nov 18 2003


silverstormer, I intended to post some links for you but the few I came up with first were unsatisfactory. Still perusing though. I used to get Architectural Lighting, a trade journal frequently featuring such applications. It's been a while and I haven't kept old issues. The journal was full of the most magnificent lighting designs imaginable. I had considered installing a fiber optic system in my own home, to serve for both task lighting and special effects.

I should have added to my first annotation that these applications aren't 'widely known' by many outside of the trade. This means that your idea is still appropriate for the halfbakery so therefore I give you my croissant!
-- Tiger Lily, Nov 18 2003


Thanks, [TL].
-- silverstormer, Nov 18 2003


There is a glass product (I think using a liquid crystal technology) that will, with the flip of a switch, turn from clear to opaque/translucent so I'd say it's doable. Expensive as heck, but technically feasible.
-- half, Nov 18 2003


Wow, you must be able to hold your breath for a long time.
-- half, Nov 18 2003


UnaBubble?
-- silverstormer, Nov 19 2003


// these applications aren't 'widely known' by many outside of the trade. This means that your idea is still appropriate for the halfbakery //

I don't know about that. Not being widely known just means it can't be mfd'd for 'baked' reasons, but if something already exists, it's not an original idea.
-- waugsqueke, Nov 19 2003


I'm sorry [LL] but I can't find anything to do with coving on your link...please prove me to be wrong.
-- silverstormer, Nov 19 2003



random, halfbakery