Moment Factory recently published this interesting “featurette” piece on the making of several large multi-media and interactive installations at LAX. What really strikes me about this video is the intensive amount of effort required to produce first-rate architectural media installations. Most … Continue reading moment factory – lax international terminal
Via Dezeen, Zaha Hadid and design firm Kollision just opened a creative installation called “Parametric Space” that features funnels of light piercing down through a stretched ceiling. The design is interesting enough merely if it were a still lighting composition; but … Continue reading parametric space by zaha hadid
A colleague of mine (thanks JM!) forwarded this interesting UK-based startup called Isotera, which is developing a “contactless” wiring system for architectural LED lighting. Here’s Isotera’s own system description: “Using ultra-efficient and reliable bulk power conversion by a single Power … Continue reading inductive power for LED systems
The US DOE just issued a fact-sheet addressing the blue-light output of LEDs. It is a very good read for anyone concerned about this topic. The following two images are the crux of the document. The first chart shows the … Continue reading no, LEDs do not produce more blue light, so get over it
I recently found some terrific design inspiration in a Lifehacker article titled “Why You Don’t Remember Your Commute” by Thorin Kklosowski. In brief, the author describes how the brain writes new memories when encountering new activities or environments, effectively making … Continue reading dynamic lighting vs. the compression of memory
International Resistive Corporation (IRC) has an interesting product called “Anotherm“, which is an electrically isolated but thermally conductive anodized coating for aluminum. This allows electrical traces to be bonded directly to aluminum, decreasing the thermal barrier between LEDs and the … Continue reading irc’s anotherm
The US DOE SSL team just sent out an email update on the long-term testing of the L-Prize winning lamp entry from Philips. WOW! Out of 200 samples tested to 25,000 hours at a hot 45° C ambient, there were ZERO failures, … Continue reading L-prize testing update
The Solid-State Lighting group at the US DOE just sent out an email with an excellent summary of the measurement standards already in place or currently in development for LED lighting. Here’s is an abbreviated version: “…we now have such … Continue reading DOE SSL standards update
The Lumu project on Kickstarter is a nice, basic iPhone illuminance meter, but I’m still hoping that someone like Hamamatsu or Ocean Optics wouldlaunch a low-cost mini-spectrometer for smartphones. Lighting designers need the capability of analyzing spectral composition, which is … Continue reading lumu – kickstarter
Following on my post about Leah Buechley’s intriguing TED Talk regarding “sketching” electronics, I would like to highlight the work of one of Buechley’s PhD students, Jie Qi. Jie has created several beautiful exploratory artworks that consider how to bond … Continue reading jie qi – mit media lab artist
To get a better feel for what the LED lighting at the Rijksmuseum really feels like, check out these two excellent videos put together by our local Philips Netherlands’ marketing team. By the way, in the image above those are my … Continue reading rijksmuseum: philips videos
Lux Magazine published an excellent video, shot at Lightfair, containing interviews with numerous North American lighting leaders discussing the status and future of LEDs. An impressive list, the interviewees are: Gary Feather, VP, LED lighting, Sharp Electronics Menko Deroos, CEO … Continue reading lux magazine video: lighting leaders discuss LEDs
Via Inhabitat, this interesting pendant concept caught my eye, from Dutch design firm MOOOI. I really like the organic, biomimetic feeling of the product, made possible by the use of lots and lots of LED’s married directly to diffusers. According … Continue reading moooi’s heracleum
A cool design concept called Ecco Luce from industrial designer Jonas Samson, who I last posted about in 2009. Ecco Luce is a personalized light wall. I created this new and unique way to intergrate led-lights in a wall. Switched … Continue reading ecco luce
The allure of integrating lighting into decorative wall surfaces continues to stimulate designers. Two design firms, Ingo Maurer and Meystyle, offer creative techniques for integrating LEDs into wallpaper installations. Via Inhabitat, London-based Meystyle is led by two sisters who do … Continue reading LED wallpaper
Available in 4 parts via YouTube, here is a great BBC special featuring the reopening of the Rijksmuseum, hosted by Andrew Graham-Dixon. Although this video doesn’t specifically address the lighting, I highly recommend it. The entire collection is illuminated by … Continue reading rijksmuseum: BBC special
A little eye-candy to inspire your concept renderings: Via Behance, I found these gorgeous nighttime images by German photographer Jakob Wagner. Continue reading jakob wagner photography
A crazy, totally sci-fi, yet very real Kickstarter project that is looking to splice bio-luminescence genes into plants to create glowing plants. This is great research: Radical, visionary, and a completely different way of thinking about how we live. It is … Continue reading glowing plants
Via Gizmodo, a cool little design company called Emerging Objects that is exploring alternative natural materials such as wood pulp, clay, and salt for use in 3D printing technologies. Continue reading emerging objects
Here’s a cool concept via Core77 , one for all the real estate developers/urban designers/trade show booth designers out there: Taking a 1:1000 scale urban model and using projection mapping to create some wicked cool visuals. The project, called the Tokyo … Continue reading urban model projection mapping
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