This is an oldie already (2006) but it's still a treat to the eye; the Flower Lamp by Swedish based 'The Interactive Institute'. TII is an experimental media research institute that combines expertise in art, design and technology to conduct world-class applied research and innovation. And they come up with cool stuff like the Flower.

The Flower lamp Lamp builds on an increasingly prevalent technology – remote energy metering – to visualise electricity used in the household as a whole. It's basically a smart meter built into a lamp. And it visualizes your energy consumption by adapting its form.

With a decrease in household electrical use, the Flower Lamp slowly opens up and appears to ‘bloom’. If, on the other hand, energy consumption increases, the lamp closes into a more contracted form, which also affects the quality of light emitted.



And a live demonstration