Optical element for inducing a variation of light from a light source

摘要

An optical element (103) for inducing a variation of light from a light source comprising a reservoir (102) containing a flexible material (104) arranged to form a light guide (104) configured to guide light (200) incoupled into the light guide (104) within a first boundary (105) formed by an interface between the flexible material (104) and a surrounding medium (109) having a refractive index being lower than the refractive index of the flexible material, and a second boundary (107) formed by an interior surface of the reservoir; a surface exciting unit (111) being arranged to induce a time varying distortion of the interface (105) between the flexible material (104) and the surrounding medium (109), wherein the distortion enables outcoupling of light at varying angles. An advantage is that a light guide enables a more compact illumination device as the light source does not need to be arranged underneath the reservoir.