When Glass Begins to Think
When Hari Atkuri visited me with his niece, Krishna, I felt an immediate shift in the air—as if a gentle breeze had entered the room carrying the fragrance of an unseen, far-off garden. Warm, curious, and quietly luminous, their presence brought a rare ease, the kind that arrives only when good intent and pure purpose walk in together. Hari, who is based in Minneapolis, USA, leads ZeGlass as its CEO and is the visionary Founder of SmartGlass Labs. I met him through my long-time friend James Lupino—another bridge across continents woven by trust and shared aspirations.
It did not take long before we started talking about glass, which is everywhere and as old as the industry itself. There is something poetic about glass — a material born from sand and fire, clear as thought and as fragile as a breath on a winter pane. For centuries, it has stood quietly at the edges of human life—framing mornings, filtering sunlight, watching the world without speaking back. Houses, towers, hospitals, schools—all with window-eyes wide open, holding the world in silent reflection.
Yet now, a new intelligence stirs behind the silent transparency. Something gentle, almost shy, but enormously powerful. We are entering a time when glass will not merely let the light through, but also understand it, sense it, shape it and also block it, if needed. And in doing so, shape us—our comfort, our energy, our lives. This is the dawning age of intelligent glasses —the popular term for “augmented reality (AR) smart glasses,” “AI glasses,” or “head-mounted displays (HMDs)” —where windows become thinking membranes, and buildings begin to breathe, feel, and act. The wide eyes of Krishna, pursuing a degree in AI, testified to this industry-wide revolution in glass called Fenestration, which shapes the future of windows and openings.
Imagine your room on a hot afternoon. Today, the sun climbs and pours heat into your walls without hesitation. Curtains are dragged across, air-conditioners hum and whine, and electricity flows like water down a drain. But tomorrow, the glass will notice the rising heat. It will darken itself softly, like a thoughtful eyelid half-closing against glare. Light will be filtered, heat softened, and your room will remain cool without raising a finger—or a degree.
In a world racing toward energy hunger, this means life. For glass occupies much of our buildings; it is the skin of our modern cities. If this skin begins to think—begins to regulate heat, trap light, and even convert solar energy into electricity, like a quiet battery—then the city becomes not a consumer, but a producer. A living organism rather than a steel skeleton.
Why Glass? Why Now?
Sand—the simplest of things—is being reimagined. Glass is renewable, recyclable, modest and abundant. It does not need to be manufactured into complexity; it already surrounds us. All it requires is intelligence—a whisper of chemistry, a thread of nanotechnology, a breath of AI—and it transforms.
Soon, our windows will not only let us watch the world; they will also help preserve it. They will know when to cool, when to brighten, when to save power and when to release it.
Glass will become a climate shield, reducing the burden on air conditioning that today consumes global electricity. It will become a gentle battery, storing sunlight in invisible layers. It will become a mindful companion, modulating spaces so we feel calmer, sleep better and work with clarity. This is not mysticism; it is material science meeting imagination.
A PhD in Physics from the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University and a die-hard innovator, Hari told me that the future of glass is not arriving with a rattle—it is gathering softly, like dew: electrochromic windows that tint themselves like moods, adjusting to light; thermochromic glass that responds to heat like skin sensing warmth; perovskite solar windows, almost transparent, that capture sunlight and convert it into power; quantum-dot films that draw energy even from cloudy skies and indoor light; all-glass batteries, storing energy inside the very surface meant only to shine; transparent displays, where windows turn into gentle screens when needed; sensor-woven panes, reading the air, the presence of people and the rhythm of the day. What was once a dull surface becomes a sensory organ of architecture—like a tree’s leaves tuned to the seasons.
Walk into a room, not as a stranger but as someone expected. The glass notices you. It adjusts the light, the tint, the warmth—softly. It senses that the sunlight is strong, so it protects. It knows evening is approaching, so it shifts toward warmer tones to relax the mind and prepare you for rest. The building is no longer an object. It is a companion—quiet, alert, caring. The harshness of machines gives way to a gentler intelligence. Light is no longer an intruder but a conversation. And somewhere, behind it all, a simple truth emerges—nature always knew how to balance light. We are merely learning to listen.
Listening to Hari, I could sense the ushering in of a new philosophy of space—the evolution of smart glass technology suggests a significant shift in spatial design. Walls that once only separated now connect. Every window becomes a subtle participant in life—harvesting energy, sensing moods, protecting comfort and weaving daylight like fine silk through space.
In India, where the heat weighs heavily in the afternoons, this evolution carries profound economic significance. Every smart sheet of glass becomes a climate worker, reducing energy loads, softening the heat, making cities habitable without punishing the Earth. The workplace brightens the mind; the hospital calms healing hearts; the school shields young eyes; the home becomes a tender partner in well-being.
I asked Hari whether he thought the Silicon Age was morphing into the Silica Age. He said, in an indomitable spirit, “We may one day look back and say: silicon made us think, but glass made us feel.” Silicon, born from sand, powered the digital revolution. Now silica, also born from sand, will power the intelligent Earth revolution. Not through dominance, but through harmony. Not through force, but through light.
Standing before my French-style full window this morning, feeling the first rays of the sun, I thought of how simple this material has been—quiet, unassuming, endlessly transparent. Now imagine that same glass thinking with you. Guarding you. Producing energy as you sip tea. Filtering light so your eyes soften, your breath slows, your mind sharpens. In that moment, the boundary between inside and outside fades. Technology stops being a device and becomes an environment.
The next industrial revolution may not roar; it may shimmer. It may arrive not as a factory, but as a windowpane. Quiet, humble, filled with possibility. Glass, once the silent witness to human life, is ready to become its quiet guardian. And as dawn spreads tomorrow, take a moment to look at your window—not as glass, but as a doorway to the intelligent light that is coming. A future that is not just visible but luminous, alive, and aware.
The future, then, is not steel or silicon or algorithms shouting under fluorescent lights, but sunlight meeting intelligence on a clear surface—glass that thinks, matter woven with meaning. It is a window that does not merely open to the world but opens the world anew. In this spirit, I asked Hari whether he would return to India one day to lead a Silica Revolution here, helping a land of sages, silicon, and sunlight become the capital of intelligent materials. He did not answer at once; the question hung in the air, like a seed waiting for the right season. But his niece’s eyes lit up, bright with wonder and quiet certainty. In that young gaze was a promise stronger than any spoken reply. Young Indians are rising—curious, confident, rooted yet restless. They will not only inherit the New India; they will build it.
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Dear Prof. Tiwari ji, Thank you deeply for capturing the poetry and promise of intelligent glass so eloquently. It was a pleasure to share our vision for the “Silica Age” with you.
As the industry expert mentioned in your beautiful piece, I can confirm that this revolution is fully underway. Taking this technology—ranging from electrochromic/LC/perovskite solar windows to the most intelligent and dynamic glass—out of the labs and into our cities requires collective action.
The future you describe needs visionary investors, specialised architects, forward-thinking policymakers, and builders focused on occupant well-being.
My team and I at ZeGlass are actively seeking partners to collaborate and scale this effort globally. We are ready to lend our expertise to anyone committed to building this luminous, energy-aware world.
Thank you again for initiating this vital conversation and for the inspiration.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Hari Atkuri for over a decade and being invited to serve on ZeGlass’ advisory board for a couple of years now. Hari is a great scientist and respected in the industry for his innovations.
I’m happy Hari and Krishna were able to meet my good friends Prof Arun Tiwari and Amol Tiwari. What I didn’t expect was this eloquent writing that will now give the entire ZeGlass team a new perspective on the future of ZeGlass with imagination, intelligence and creativity.
You cease to amaze us Prof. Tiwari in your great writings! Thank you. And I also hope that Krishna is inspired by this meeting. It’ll be a great memory.
The profound significance of Dr Hari Atkuri’s work only dawned on me gradually.
For years, I had viewed glass as a highly energy-intensive material—one that building codes rightly restricted.
Yet, despite decades of incremental innovations, the 2025 building codes still impose strict limits on the window-to-wall ratio.
I sincerely hope that this breakthrough in glass technology will finally shift the paradigm and make high-performance custom glass a favoured choice with many advantages.
As a building scientist and passionate advocate for daylighting, I am genuinely thrilled by the transformative possibilities that Dr Hari’s work opens up.
Only you could make glass feel alive ….breathing, sensing, and responding. A dazzling exposition where material science waltzes with philosophy.
Dear Sir, Greetings! This essay beautifully reimagines glass not just as a material, but as a living participant in human spaces. I was struck by the idea of the ‘Silica Age’—where glass evolves from silent witness to quiet guardian, shaping comfort, conserving energy, and harmonising with nature. The vision of windows that think, feel, and even produce energy is both poetic and practical, especially for countries like India, where climate resilience is vital. It feels less like technology intruding and more like technology listening to nature’s wisdom. Thank you for painting such a luminous picture of how material science and imagination can converge to redefine our future. Warm Regards,
Dear Arun ji, I found this piece quite evocative — the imagery of glass beginning to think stirred something deep. The notion that what’s transparent and fragile can still hold a spark of awareness is provocative. It invited me to pause and look beneath the surface.
Your writing reminds us of the need to look within, not just around us. The everyday “glass walls” we build — in ambition, in technology, in crisis — often hide inner reflections we ignore. This blog nudged me to explore those hidden reflections.
Thank you for the gentle challenge: to not only observe the shifting world, but also to ask what is shifting inside me.
Imagine everyday life when Silica reigns…its not too far off!
Yes indeed sir. Sun has long been recognised as the source of all life on earth and glass can clearly (pun intended) help us catch the energy of the sun in our own homes.
Prof Tiwari, This an eye opener is, thank you for sharing – glass! of all things
Dear Arun ji, I found this piece quite evocative — the imagery of glass beginning to think stirred something deep. The notion that what’s transparent and fragile can still hold a spark of awareness is provocative. It invited me to pause and look beneath the surface.
Your writing reminds us of the need to look within, not just around us. The everyday “glass walls” we build — in ambition, in technology, in crisis — often hide inner reflections we ignore. This blog nudged me to explore those hidden reflections.
Thank you for the gentle challenge: to not only observe the shifting world, but also to ask what is shifting inside me.
Very good narration, beautifully going on with ease ,it tells about both poetry and technology made to tell us something in a New way……
Dear Prof
Good sharing your meeting with Dr Hari and thoughts about thinking glass
I would like to request that he also considers to visit Rwanda and share the same revolutionary ideas with us.
Very interesting possibilities. Few years back we got a small grant to our Smart Cities Lab from Saint Gobain to okay around with their ‘programmabke’ glass for windows. The possibilities now are even more wilder
Yet another visionary Blog by Prof Tiwari ji: “When Glass Begins to Think” imagines a future where glass becomes intelligent and interactive, transforming from a passive barrier to a responsive element that senses, adapts, and even powers our spaces, ushering in an era where technology gently supports our comfort, energy needs, and well-being.
Arunji, Hari is a nice gentleman that I came across.
You’ve captured both the poetry and the promise of intelligent glass—how a quiet, ancient material is on the verge of becoming an active, sensing, energy-shaping partner in our lives.
Hari’s work, and the vision you describe, makes the future of fenestration feel not just technological, but almost soulful.