The Brains Find out how we created the Mobile Tanning Device

For years, Dr. Kjetil Svortevik - the slightly eccentric genius - and his colleague Sindre A. performed classified research for the military on mobile stereo projection. They focused on designing applications that could help military cartographers, scientists, engineers and GIS professionals to view, develop and manipulate complex 3D computer graphics for realistic display on portable communication devices. When the military withdrew funding for the research due to a lack of significant results, Kjetil and Sindre began to explore the possibility of launching a new and ambitious programme aiming to develop a Mobile Tanning Device. They quickly obtained funding from several companies in the

EU, and began their research in a new facility in Delft, The Netherlands. During their research, a new safety standard for tanning beds was implemented within the EU. This prompted them to pay special attention to the safety aspects of the device, with the help of Prosafe, the product safety enforcement forum of Europe. DPI New Media and Schuttelaar & Partners, a European communications agency with offices in The Netherlands and Belgium, assisted them in the commercial aspects of their endeavour – including helping them to make video blogs of their progress. The project is currently in the final testing phase.

The Brains Watch video

A tanning innovation How it works

As with many great inventions, Dr. Svortevik and his team discovered the possibility of mobile tanning by accident! At the time of their research for the military, they were looking for a mobile screen foil that would generate just the right kind of brightness for optimum user experience. It was when the two researchers accidently broke the display that they discovered its tanning potential. Smartphones transmit a minimal amount of UV radiation, but thanks to the foil they were using, this radiation was bundled and strong enough to cause severe damage to the

skin of the unfortunate Sindre A. At first, they simply viewed this as something that should be fixed, but when funding for the project was withdrawn, they decided that  - if tweaked - the “error” actually presented great potential as a commercial application. Two years of additional research have produced the world’s first-ever Mobile Tanning Device!