Hive Systems is an interesting Dutch startup that is building software for simulating and controlling networks of interactive devices. I met their team after I presented at the GlowNext Symposium in Eindhoven (November 2013). Quoting their site: HiveKit is a … Continue reading hive systems
Coming soon: Combining the power of mobile apps with connected lighting, Philips Lighting is connecting Disney bedtime stories to color-changing ambient lighting. What a powerful natural combination: Disney has a long history of using show-control systems to create magical experiences … Continue reading philips + disney storylight
Fast Company just released a fantastic article exploring Philips Lighting and the technological changes impacting the lighting industry. For once, a properly researched and well-written article about the changes in lighting! Nice! For posterity I’ve saved it as a PDF … Continue reading how philips altered the future of light
I have high hopes for Transcendence, the upcoming Johnny Depp science-fiction flick directed by the cinematographer for the Dark Knight and Inception. Hopefully we’ll see some cool sci-fi lighting and futuristic scenes. I pulled a few screen-caps from the … Continue reading transcendence
I recently presented at and attended the US Department of Energy’s Solid State Lighting 2014 R+D Workshop in Tampa, Florida. A terrific event, the US DOE’s SSL group uses this input from key industry participants to help guide their long-term funding programs with the goal of promoting the adoption of energy-efficient LED and OLED lighting technologies. You can find my slide deck here: 20140106_BK_DOESSL_2014 Workshop_Tampa_V3_extra annotations We need to find ways to reduce the total costs of advanced lighting systems. And as big a fan as I am regarding digital lighting technologies, I want our industry to leave behind a positive … Continue reading US DOE SSL R+D Workshop
Via PCMonitors, if you are a hard-core lighting science nerd, here is a very interesting article detailing the LED sources used for LCD monitors and TV screens. Continue reading the evolution of LED backlights
View Dynamic Glass produces electrochromic tinted glass for architectural curtainwall systems. According to the Wall Street Journal, View just won $100m in VC investment — “one of the largest deals for a clean-technology company in the past 12 months”. Electrochromic … Continue reading view dynamic glass
Plastic Electronic is a German company that makes touch sensitive control panels using integrated, laminated electronics. These sorts of processes might one day be critical for integrating lighting into building materials via low-cost processes. Via the Holst Center’s website. Continue reading plastic electronic
I’ve always liked the groovy Fleetwood Mac song “You Make Loving Fun“…but now I have a whole extra reason to like it: The song was actually inspired by an affair between Fleetwood Mac’s keyboardist Christine McVie and their lighting designer … Continue reading lighting designers make loving fun
Via Cool Hunting: A Kickstarter campaign for an interesting little design concept for a portable light cleverly disguised as a folding book. This is just amazing to me: This Kickstarter campaign raked in over a half-million in funding for an … Continue reading lumio
Nest is pretty awesome, and it is blatantly obvious that they are going to be getting into residential lighting controls at some point. Google is ambitious, and three years ago was messing around with some sort of new wireless mesh … Continue reading google buys nest
Lighting Science Group has launched a line of LED bulbs called “Definity Digital” that are offering customized spectral outputs for specific scenarios. Their “Good Night” lamp is an A19 shaped bulb with reduced blue-light content– that results in a 2500K … Continue reading lighting science group: definity digital
I recently found a fascinating and very detailed description of the design research and development process that led to the “Google Smart Lamp” demonstration, which was developed as a collaboration between Google and London design shop Berg. I originally posted about the … Continue reading google smart lamp: design process
Via Core77 – two more robotic desklamps! We’ve seen robotic desk lamps before (check out this post or this post) and I promise…someday, I’m totally going to build myself a robotic desk lamp!!!! I’m thinking maybe two — a boy robot desklamp on one side … Continue reading more robotic desk lamps!
I continue to be fascinated by a small MIT tech startup called FINsix, which I wrote about previously here and here. Looks like they had a sort of “coming out” party at CES in Las Vegas, demonstrating their incredibly tiny … Continue reading FINsix
I just found an interesting 2011 article from MIT’s Technology Review : A startup called Transphorm is using GaN power electronics to substantially reduce power converter sizes. The possibility of using gallium nitride in power electronics has been known for decades, but producing high-quality versions of the material has been a challenge. That problem, however, was largely solved by researchers who figured out how to use gallium nitride in LEDs, Mishra says. Transphorm has optimized the material for power electronics, and it has developed novel devices (such as transistors), circuits, and complete modules that include all the components needed to … Continue reading transphorm – GaN power electronics
If you’ve ever taken the Thalys high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris, then you’ve probably seen the massive greenhouses stretching out to the horizon as far as the eye can see. These are not just simple greenhouses or indoor farms: Think … Continue reading philips horticulture lighting
Ninebyfour is a beautiful, elegantly minimal linear pendant design that uses a unique material source: Felled urban trees gathered from within the city of Amsterdam . Designed by local design shop Waarmakers — they’ve tracked the location of where the tree originally … Continue reading ninebyfour by waarmakers
Via Gizmodo: DropShades — Glasses with bands of music-reactive LED lighting. There is no practical reason for these to exist whatsoever, but if you’re desperate for a gift for someone you know who is a total lighting dork, you could do worse… Continue reading dropshades
Audio gear manufacturer JBL recently released a portable Bluetooth speaker called JBL Pulse with built-in LED lighting effects. Looks a little small for the lighting effect, but of course it is meant to be portable. An interesting mix of audio, … Continue reading jbl pulse
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