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A new self-powered quasi-solid-state ECD with a simplified bilayer film configuration shows high flexibility and excellent color switching performance without external power supply. Its application in optical information encryption is demonstrated.

Information is becoming pervasive in the contemporary society, and is increasingly saturating the visual senses and the cognitive efforts of the lay masses. As our attention for visual impulses and cognitive effort has become more competitive, new approaches are being pursued to convey information to people in memorable and intuitive ways. With human's inherent proficiency in comprehending the physical affordances present in the real world, some researchers and designers are investigating how meaningful insights can be conveyed by way of "sculpting" data.This paper proposes a domain model to establish the concept of data sculpture as a data-based physical artifact, possessing both artistic and functional qualities, that aims to augment a nearby audience's understanding of data insights and any socially relevant issues that underlie it. This paper also proposes a model of embodiment to capture and analyze the wide and multi-layered spectrum of existing data sculptures. In this model, the introduced concepts of metaphorical distances are used as a means to measure embodiment in data sculpture. The models provide groundwork for useful design principles for effective information communication of socially relevant, data-driven insights to a large, lay audience using data sculpture.

The achievement of photoreversible color switching systems (PCSS) has offered great opportunities for fundamental studies and practical applications. However, the development of PCSS that possessing highly reversible cyclability and on-demand regulation of recoloration process remains a grand challenge. Herein, we report a hydrazine-mediated self-doping strategy for the synthesis of alkaline Ti 3+ self-doped TiO 2−x nanoparticles, enabling the TiO 2−x nanoparticles/methylene blue based PCSS with long photoreversible cyclability and rapid color switching rate. The Ti 3+ species as internal sacrificial electron donors significantly improve the photoreductive activity of TiO 2−x nanoparticles, which results in fast decoloration rate and long cycling number of the PCSS. Simultaneously, the alkaline property of TiO 2−x nanoparticles enhances the oxidation kinetics of the PCSS to dramatically accelerate the recoloration rate. Moreover, the PCSS can be integrated elaborately with biodegradable agarose to form flexible color switching films, which exhibit long-waited on-demand regulation of recoloration rate in a wide range. By taking advantage of photoreversible color switching and time-resolved color changing process, we demonstrate their potential application in self-erasing rewritable paper and transient optical information encryption. This work represents a new strategy for the future development of PCSS and their advanced applications.

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