Currently, reflective-material manufacturers use reflective strips sewn on apparel. In low-light settings these strips appear to motorists as an unrecognizable series of lines floating ahead at an uncertain distance.

To make it easier to identify the wearer's shape, location, and distance, illumiNITE(reg) apparel produces a 360-degree reflective silhouette image of the wearer. Thousands of metallic microparticles called sataLITE DISH(reg) reflectors, applied to fabric fibers, have a retroflective effect when hit by a direct beam of light.

The new coating process produces reflective fabrics which are functional, available in a variety of colors and patterns, soft to the touch, washing-machine friendly, and create a bright silhouette of the wearer's image at dawn, dusk, and night.

Robert Rizika, reflective technologies inc., 15 Tudor St., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: (617) 497-6171.