What is inflatable, produces light and can be used at home or camping? Ok, I will save you the hassle of guessing. It is called Blow Me Up. No. No. Don’t get it wrong. There’s nothing NSFW about Blow Me Up. It is actually a light and an inflatable one. Wait, what? Inflatable light? Yes. Inflatable light. Now, the concept of inflatable light isn’t all that new. There is at least one we knew (and it is awesome, btw), but the Blow Me Up by German industrial designer Ingo Maurer is little more playful in a way. It is a 6-foot long LED-powered lamp but it comes packed, rolled inside a can in its deflated state. Upon unboxing, user will have to inflate manually by hand to get it to its intended, hence the name Blow Me Up. Although, technically, it doesn’t actually inflate using your mouth.
When inflated, the integrated LED strip rated at 30W offers a super bright 4,000 lumens of light source with 3,000K color temperature (warm white, but more towards natural white) and if not for the lighting source, it looks pretty much like an air-filled party tube. But rest assure this isn’t just any tube. Special considerations were taken to enable it as a light source proper such as, for example, it has a reflective side and a clear side where the former allows light to radiate and scatter indirect light to the room through the clear section. Basically, it is regular light tube, except it is unique, fun and also, it affords a myriad of placement options, including hung from the ceiling and at varying angle, wall mount, and even placed standing on the floor. Artsy.
Interestingly, it has no traditional switch; instead, it gets a sensor switch which can be found on one side of the LED strip. So, it got a bit futurism in it too. We are not quite sure if does come with the mounting hardware as shown in the product installation video, but I sure hope it does because this thing is not cheap. Not even remotely. It will run you back a healthy 240 euros, or about 286 American dollars, a pop. Damn. I would love to have a couple of these in my new humble abode, but the price is simply way too prohibitive for me. For everyone else who has the financial muscle to flex, this is a lighting source that’s not only intriguing but also one that could make for a good conversational piece. The lamp was showcased a while back, but it was not until recently that Ingo Maurer and his team announced its availability. So, now you know.
P.S. Blow Me Up can also used when camping if you are on a camper that has a 12V source.
Images: Ingo Maurer.
Ingo Maurer via designboom.
