Green Daily

Organic LED technology is still in its infancy, which means that while OLED lights are potentially far more energy efficient than anything else out there, right now they're extraordinarily expensive to produce. In other words, don't expect to walk a store and buy an OLED lamp anytime soon.

But if you've been wondering what an OLED lamp might look like, you can stop pulling your hair out and look at the pretty pictures of a prototype designed by lighting artist Ingo Maurer. Basically, Osram, an OLED manufacturer gave Maurer 10 small panels and asked him to design a lamp.

OLEDs use less voltage than traditional lights, operate at low voltages, and don't use mercury. The light is also dispersed evenly over the entire panel instead of emitting from specific points. The press release says the lamp, called Early Future, is "being produced as a limited edition." It's not quite clear if that means you'll actually be able to buy one at some point, or if by limited, the company means the lamp will be one of a kind. Either way, you might want to start putting some money in the piggy bank or raiding your kid's college fund if you actually want to pick one up. You might be better off just marveling at the images and waiting a few years until OLEDs are as common plastic shopping bags.