Smart Windows Fly High

Windows are also a big deal in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, recently in the spotlight at the biennial Farnborough International Air Show, which along with its sister show held in alternating years outside of Paris, is used by the industry to showcase the latest products to customers, competitors and the public... But mainly customers.

The AP reported that plane makers notched up orders worth more than $28 billion at Farnborough by the close of the event's third day, underscoring a revival in commercial aviation even as budget cuts (like killing the F-22 Raptor) keep the defense sector in the doldrums.

But back to the windows... In the 787's cockpit, PPG's "gold film" embeds a heating layer within the windshield to counteract sub-zero temperatures at cruising altitudes and eliminate the need for industrial strength defrosters inside.

In the passenger cabin the technology is similar to the video above. Manually controlled "electrochromic windows" darken when voltage is added and are transparent when voltage is taken away, so they can be adjusted to allow varying levels of visibility. In a 787, that's done with push-button presets below each window, or a virtual slider which appears on the pane, eliminating now obsolete sliding plastic shades.