Well, it's not exactly cheap, but we'll get to that in a minute. The Exideal is a notebook-sized vertical display of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) intended as a kind of electronic beauty aid. The idea is you sit in front of the thing and let the flickering LEDs bathe your face in light, to “permeate the vitamins and collagen in your skin and make you beautiful from the inside." The Exideal features 280 multicolored LEDs that light up in various modes, patterns and intensities. Check out the deeply weird demo video for a case-in-point on Japanese surrealism.

Of course, all the Exideal is likely to permeate is your wallet. There's no evidence -- or even a decent reason to think -- that bathing your skin in LED emanations will have any beneficial effect. Then again, I suppose if evidence and reason were filtering criteria in the beauty industry, half the store shelves would be empty.

Your skin does need a certain amount of light, though. Well, not so much an amount as a type of light. Specifically, ultraviolet B radiation, which triggers production of Vitamin D in the body, critical for maintaining organ systems. The usual exposure to sunlight does the trick -- UVB ultraviolet light at wavelengths between 270–290 nm, if you want to get technical. Commercial LEDs don't go that far down the electromagnetic spectrum.

There's a whole 'nother conversation here about epileptic seizures, but I sense it's time to move on. The Exideal system retails for 100,000 yen, or around $900.

---

Bookmark this article:

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Title

Comment

Add Comment