A window unit (e.g., insulating glass (IG) window unit) is designed to reduce bird collisions therewith. The window unit may include two or three substrates and at least one of the substrates supports an ultraviolet (UV) reflecting coating. The UV reflecting coating may be patterned by a laser (e.g., femto laser) which is used to either entirely or partially remove (e.g., via laser ablation) a portion of the coating in a pattern, so that after patterning by the laser the patterned coating is either not provided across the entirety of the window unit and/or is non-uniform in UV reflection across the window unit so that the UV reflection differs across different areas of the window thereby making the window unit more visible to birds which can see UV radiation and detect that pattern.

A curtain may include a blind shade stretched or contracted in a first direction to adjust transmittance of light, a base coupled to one end portion of the blind shade in the first direction thereof, and a transmittance adjusting device to adjust the transmittance of the light passing through the blind shade by pulling outward or releasing inward an other end portion of the blind shade in the first direction thereof, in the state that spacing from the base in the first direction is fixed.

A window for use on a structure has a first frame, a second frame and a fascia. The structure has a wall having an interior surface, an exterior surface, and an opening extending through the wall from the interior surface to the exterior surface. The opening has an upper edge, a lower edge, a first side, and a second side. The first frame contacts the interior surface of the wall and extends through the opening. The second frame is positioned below the opening and contacts the interior surface of the wall. The fascia is connected to the first frame and contacts the exterior surface of the wall.

A virtual visor system is disclosed that includes a visor having a plurality of independently operable pixels that are selectively operated with a variable opacity. A camera captures images of the face of a driver or other passenger and, based on the captured images, a controller operates the visor to automatically and selectively darken a limited portion thereof to block the sun or other illumination source from striking the eyes of the driver, while leaving the remainder of the visor transparent. The virtual visor system advantageously adopts a gradient blocking mode for the optical state of the visor that includes a blocker and a transition gradient, which has the effect of making updates to optical state of the visor less distracting. Additionally, the transition gradient in the optical state of the visor makes the virtual visor system more robust against errors in positioning the blocker on the visor.

A covering for a vertically-suspended architectural-structure covering is disclosed. The covering is formed from a plurality of assembled vanes suspended from a headrail assembly. Each assembled vane may be made via a strip process. Each vane including a strip of material (e.g., translucent fabric), and at least one slat (e.g., arcuate opaque material) coupled to the strip of material. For example, in one embodiment, the vanes may include first and second slats coupled to an intermediate strip of material on either side of the intermediate strip of material along the vertically extending side portions thereof, respectively. The first and second slats preferably each include a complementary curved surface so that when the assembled vanes are coupled to the headrail assembly, the first slat of a first assembled vane is coupled to or nested with the second slat of a second, adjacent assembled vane.

In one aspect, a method for manufacturing a continuous sheet for use within a roller shade may generally include positioning a portion of a first sheet web adjacent to a mandrel, positioning a portion of a second sheet web adjacent to the mandrel and winding the first and second sheet webs around the mandrel such that a folded segment of the first sheet web is secured to a base segment of the second sheet web.

In one aspect, a covering for an architectural structure may include a shade panel and a bottom rail assembly coupled to the shade panel. The bottom rail assembly may include a rail housing and a roller extending within the rail housing, with the shade panel being looped around the roller such that the bottom rail assembly is vertically supported by the shade panel as the panel is moved between extended and retracted positions. In addition, the relative positioning of the roller within the rail housing may be adjusted, as desired, between the top and bottom ends of the bottom rail housing.

A light attenuator that provides transparent light states and absorbing dark states for use in selectively controlling light, especially for smart glass applications. The light attenuator includes abutting areas of attenuation and transparency that form a repeat pattern or a quasi-repeat pattern. The attenuating areas are visible when the light attenuator is in the light state, but the repeat pattern is sufficiently large that a viewer looks through the attenuator and sees no haze.

The present disclosure discloses an insulated glazing (2) system (1) comprising at least two glass panes and a spacer element, said at least two glass panes and said spacer element defining a closed volume, a light ray shielding device (3) defining a plurality of transparent areas configured to allow the passage of incident light rays with a given angle of incidence, whereas light rays having other angles of radiation are unable to pass through said plurality of transparent areas and a plurality of non-transparent areas configured to block the passage of light rays, said non-transparent areas defining a first surface and a second surface, opposite to the first surface , said light ray shielding device (3) being situated within said closed volume, support means (32) mechanically connected to said spacer and operably associated with said light ray shielding device (3) to support it. The system is characterized in that the light ray shielding device (3) comprises a layer (333) having retroreflective properties, said layer (333) at least partially covering one or both of said first and second surfaces of at least one of said areas of said plurality of non-transparent areas of said light ray shielding device (3).

Methods and apparatus for modulating light using a tunable light modulation device. The tunable light modulation devices comprises an elastomer structure including at least one elastomer layer, a compliant electrode network of conducting fibers arranged on a first surface of the at least one elastomer layer, a patterned electric conductor arranged on a second surface of the at least one elastomer layer opposite the first surface. The patterned electric conductor includes a plurality of individually-addressable sections, and the compliant electrode network is configured to compress the at least one elastomer layer in the presence of an electric field between the compliant electrode network and one or more of the individually-addressable sections of the patterned electric conductor to produce a voltage-dependent roughening of the at least one elastomer layer.