.6MM is an interactive installation created in collaboration with Abet, a leading manufacturer of decorative laminates. Abet’s extensive research into high-pressure laminates (HPLs) led to the creation of DIAFOS, the first translucent laminate made from pressed cellulose sheets. The designers’ intuition to use the surface as a capacitive element reinterprets the material as an icon of a near future, where space and information intersect, and design and technology become one.

A 5 mm-thick translucent and tactile plate is back-milled to integrate an LED element and a reprogrammable printed circuit board connected to an extra-large touch dimmer. The material is milled down to a minimum thickness of 0.6 mm — the ideal thickness to allow direct electrical conduction between the two sides — making the surface capacitive. The slab becomes a luminous monolith on the wall, capable of interacting with the surrounding space and its interlocutor, revealing its interior only when activated. A first glimpse of what the future of smart surfaces could be.