Aside from looking neat, the lights also serve another purpose. As you’ll see in the video below, the blinking animation gets slower as the battery of the device being charged nears its capacity, finally fading out when charging is complete.

The Dexim Visible USB cables are available on Amazon, but for some reason the USB-to-micro-USB models are being sold for $60 (USD) – way more expensive than the iOS-compatible variants, which are priced at $15-$20. So if you have an Android phone or any other device that has a micro-USB charging port, you should consider importing one from Sanwa Direct(JP) instead.

[via Digital Trends]

The XCM Kinect X-Light kit replaces the case of your Kinect with a clear shell, and includes 1.5 meters of electroluminescent wire. You can use this wire to add custom illumination of your design inside your now see-through Kinect, and it’s available in a color of your choice.

I’m not sure if the clear case or the EL light will have any negative impact on the Kinect’s camera or infrared capabilities, but assuming it doesn’t, the X-Light looks like a pretty cool mod. If you want one, keep your eyes peeled over at Divineo, who should start taking pre-orders any day now.

Now for the painful part:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re not daunted, you can review the steps and parts needed at Ladyada’s website. You’ll also find links to buy some of the items there, the most convenient being the $20 (USD) EL Wire Starter Pack. I think if you pull this project off you can TRON-ify pretty much any object, because it’s all in the glowing EL wire.

[via Laughing Squid]

Created by Kiwi&Pom for Wallpaper Magazine, the Disco Chair is a conceptual piece of furniture, made from about 600 feet of colorful electroluminescent wire.

The chair can also be set to a “pulse” mode, hence the “Disco” moniker. In all likelihood, you’ll never be able to buy this chair, but I’m secretly hoping Disney will come up with an all blue edition and market it along with all of their other TRON: Legacy merch.

In the mean time, you could always build your own. Here’s a place you can get plenty of electroluminescent wire for your projects.

[via NOTCOT via io9]

Lightbotz are the latest creation from artist Marcus Tremonto, and they’re basically plain-white Munnys, loaded up with electroluminescent lighting. And these aren’t just glowing heads or something.

Each Lightbotz Munny is loaded up with a carefully hand-placed array of EL illumination emanating from its head or body. Check out this one called “Captain Light Master Dunny.”

No word on when you’ll be able to buy Lightbotz for your own desktop, but if and when Marcus does decide to sell them, this is the one I want:

Now.

[via yatzer via Geek&Hype]

The bold and badass Leiji Meter watch from Japan’s Seahope and ZERO Goods Universe will definitely draw stares when you wear it to your next business meeting. The body of the watch is constructed from a beefy metal superalloy that’s used in the manufacture of aircraft and rockets, and designed to resist oxidation.

Now I have no idea how to tell time on this thing, but I’m guessing it has something to do with those gauges, LED bars, and electroluminescent panels. Or maybe it doesn’t tell time at all. Who knows? Who cares? It just looks cool on your wrist.

You can get your hands on the Leiji Meter watch over at Seahope for ¥39,900 (appx. $462 USD).

The t-shirt lights up using an electroluminescent display that responds to music and other ambient sounds.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And while Apple hasn’t used the classic rainbow logo since 1998, I have a funny feeling that neither Steve Jobs nor the T-Qualizer guys had anything to do with this shirt. That said, you’d better get your hands on one before somebody’s lawyers see this post.

If you move quick, you can grab one over at JetsSoBox or over on eBay for somewhere between $20 and $45 USD.

Designer Marcus Tremonto pokes strands of illuminated wires through glossy sheets of Perspex acrylic to create the illusion of 3-dimensional geometric forms.

While the bright self-lit forms are reminiscent of neon, they actually operate using cool-burning electroluminescent wire, consuming minimal power.

Numerous wires are precisely manipulated to create amazing sculptural forms, including traditional lamps, chandeliers, as well as more abstract shapes.

Tremento is makes his lighting fixtures in extremely limited editions, and you can find some of his recent works over at Generate LE.

Designed by FlashWear, the same guys who brought you the popular T-Qualizer, a VU-meter on a t-shirt, the tabletop Speaqualizer is their latest in their line of light-up creations. Just throw a few AAA batteries into the back of the frame, turn up the tunes, and watch the electroluminescent bars dance to the beat of your music.

Available in two styles, the TQ Raver (rainbow colors) and the TQ Chiller (cool jewel tones), each Speaqualizer panel will set you back about $38 USD.

In addition to telling time, day and date, the Jet wall clock also features a temperature display and an alarm. If you really dig his style, Williams has also designed a Jet clock radio and a smaller travel alarm clock too. All three models will come in either brushed anodized aluminum or shiny gold finishes.

The first model to be released — the Jet wall clock — is available now from French design boutique Singulier for €45 (appx. $69 USD). Pricing and a release date haven’t been announced for the travel clock and clock radio yet.

Designed by Shigenori Ichimura and Tetsu Miyazawa of Japan’s &design, the clock draws its inspiration from the segments of an LED display. The analog hands get their bright glow from electroluminescent backlighting.

The clock is currently just in the prototype stage, but I’d definitely buy one of these cool timepieces if they ever manage to produce them.

[via Generate Pipeline]

Designed by Jesus Felipe and Silvia Grimaldi of UK-based Nimble Critters, the ETree lamp is more of an interactive sculpture than simply a lamp. Each of the light’s 10 bluish-green “branches” can be bent into about any shape, creating undulating arboreal structures reminiscent of the tentacles of an upside-down jellyfish. [check out the lamp in action here.]

The ETree floor lamp will set you back about £1000 (appx. $2068 USD), although there’s a simpler 5-branch table lamp version that’s £360 (appx. $745 USD). They’re available from the Kinetica Design Museum.

The Bright Blind comes from the minds of designers Makoto Hirahara and Hisakazu Nabeshima (for Japanese design collective Studio Mongoose). It’s a window shade that hangs on your wall and is backlit by electroluminescent sheets to provide simulated daylight in even the darkest of offices. Just like a real window shade, brightness is adjusted by twirling the plastic shade control.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The shade is currently just a hand-built prototype, so I’m hoping they decide to produce these for purchase soon. Head on over to the GNR8 Pipeline site for more information (and a ton of other cool design concepts).

[via CribCandy via Coolest-Gadgets]

Designers Soner Ozenc and John Wischhusen created these electroluminescent butterflies called GloWings. Each see-through winged critter is loaded with blue electroluminescent wire to produce a soft blue-green glow. They can be hung on a wall, or from a ceiling, and look really cool when you have a bunch of them hanging together in a group.

They can run on either AAA batteries or on AC current (it sounds like they only include a European A/C adapter, so you might need to grab your own). You can net these butterflies for yourself from Generate for $139 USD each.

[via Funfurde]

The watches come in three dramatic polycarbonate finishes: translucent pink, amber or white, and make a very dramatic statement with their high contrast pSEL displays. While o.d.m. didn’t seem to have them for sale in their U.S. online shop, I was able to find them for about $80 to $90 each on eBay.

[via Emily Chang / Stylehive]

Made from flexible Silicone, The USB Illuminated Roll-Up Keyboard from USBGeek gets its glow from a cool sapphire blue electroluminescent layer. It’s designed to be easily rolled up and thrown your briefcase or backpack for easy travel. As an added bonus, the keyboard’s soft, flexible construction resists water and dust contamination.