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Show Technology on the floor Hy ;ary kkino Copley Newi Servlre Technology la tampering with today's carpets and rus. It has changed the majority ma-jority of carpeting from natural to man-made fibers, fi-bers, from woven construction construc-tion to tufted and from a sameness of texture to a variety, including cut pile, flat looks and shag. Despite the rapid technological techno-logical changes which already al-ready have altered their product, leaders of the carpet car-pet industry predicted more changes to come at a panel discussion sponsored by the National Home Fashions League. Marjorie Rhodes, a textile tex-tile stylist, predicted that new computer-controlled coloring and patterning machinery will lead to carpet car-pet that looks like an abstract ab-stract painter's canvas. In the past, multicolored carpet was used primarily to hide soil. But the new machinery, which can apply as many as eight colors col-ors in a soft- or hard-edged precise pattern, will lead to the use of multiple colors col-ors for the sake of design, she said. The machinery has been sold to at least three large American carpet mills and to two Canadian manufacturers, manufac-turers, and styling work has already started on new carpet designs, Rhodes said. Another prediction made by the panel is that easily installed carpet tiles will replace roll goods, especially espe-cially in office and other commercial installations. Carpet tiles already account ac-count for 35 percent of the European commercial market, according to Norman Nor-man Rosenblatt, a contractor. contrac-tor. The advent of flat electric elec-tric cable has made carpet tiles the best choice in new and refurbished buildings, he said. The cable, which is laid directly on the floor, saves construction costs. But its use precludes installation in-stallation of rolled carpet-ng, carpet-ng, since cutting the carpet car-pet could damage the cable and laying it would prevent future access to the cable. The tiles, however, are installed without cutting and can be picked up and reset. It seems likely that once carpet tiles are widespread in commercial installations, installa-tions, their use will spread to the home. The distinction distinc-tion between commercial and residential carpeting is breaking down, according to panel members. |